Dismissing Prejudices and Embracing Individuality

 

"I still remember the day when I first realised that I was different from everyone else around me. It was not when I felt that I didn't fit into the generalised context of male or female or when I came out to my parents; rather it was when my teachers questioned my choice of activities and friends at school and made me insecure and uncomfortable. Them normalising such behaviour only encouraged the students to bully me more. It was probably one of the worst experiences of my life."

As per a survey by UNESCO, Eighty-four percent of the people who have admitted their identities, have been bullied and harassed by society. Even though Consensual Homosexual Acts no longer constitutes a crime in India yet several persons undergo relentless suppression as it’s not the laws that the people are fearful about but it is the world and their embedded prejudice that makes the situation problematic. 

George Takei once said that we should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity. However, the LGBTQ+ community for long has been facing an intolerable amount of pestering and homophobic bullying. When such people disregard all the traditions and attributes prescribed by society and come out of the closet by accepting their real identities, they face public rejection, humiliation and discrimination leading to significant levels of psychological distress, self-harm and suicidality. Regardless, a heterosexual persons’ homophobia should not be a valid reason for a homosexual persons’ fear of being accepted in society.

LGBT+ pride is the promotion of self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. The LGBT+ community has always been a victim of oppression and has been subjected to the notion of being religiously, politically and morally incorrect. This "shunning" truth has to be accepted by society as it is not a choice and this prevalent belief in heterosexism that is haunting the identities of homosexual people has to terminate. 

The organisations that dismiss the community members throughout the year but utilize the opportunity of the Pride Month as a marketing gimmick should instead use this to spread awareness and demand equal rights for them. Rather than labelling the small businesses owned by queer persons as successful “queer” small businesses, they should be simply called successful small businesses. This will ensure that gender fluidity is not something that differentiates them from others.

Additionally, the mere declaration of personal pronouns doesn't classify as sensitization or a way to support non-binary, trans and people with unlabeled sexualities. These varied identities need to be recognized, socially accepted and celebrated. It is essential to provide equal opportunities to various gender groups in order to achieve an egalitarian society. 

Even though we have grown as a society yet there is abundant space for improvement and incorporation. Let us come together for the social and cooperative involvement of the LGBTQ+ community and embrace reality as it is.