ID: Drawing of a duck billed platypus underwater, they're wearing a rainbow coloured t shirt and a pink bum-bag, and saying: "Ally is not something you can self-identify as, it's a title that you earn. Let your actions speak for themselves!"
Credit: Sophie Labelle
Counterpoint. Yes, it's anecdotal, but the biggest success my mother has had in kicking her cigarette habit has been identifying herself as a non-smoker. She did that before cutting back at all, and now she's from 35/day to 6. Every other attempt, she's identified as a smoker trying to quit, and it's failed.
Same theory - let them identify as what they want to be. Once they identify as such, the behavior will follow easier than if they're saying "I'm trying to be an ally".