STAND WITH LGBT COMMUNITY
The human rights of the LGBTI or LGBT community is coming into sharper focus around the world, with important advances in many countries in recent years, including the adoption of new legal protections, legalization of same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination policies etc.
An acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender identities, LGBT people, over the last decade, have gained more and more tolerance and acceptance in India, especially in large cities.
Nonetheless, most LGBT people in India remain closeted, fearing discrimination from their families, who might see homosexuality as shameful. Discrimination is still prevalent in rural areas, where LGBT people often face rejection and violence from their families and forced opposite-sex marriages.
The preamble to the Indian Constitution mandates justice -- social, economic, and political equality of status -- for all. The right of equality before law and equal protection under the law is guaranteed in Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
LGBT individuals are merely individuals whose sexual orientation differs from what has been perceived to be the ‘norm’. While some sign it off as a choice or a way of seeking attention that is not the case. Studies have accumulated an overwhelming series of evidence that showcase a biological basis to sexual orientation and how it is programmed into the brain before birth through a mix of genetics and prenatal conditions. Saying that it’s objectively wrong for people to have sexual preferences that differ from the 'norm' is thus objectively wrong itself.
Gender identity is what’s inside your head. Not what the Norms says.
Article 15 of our Indian Constitution states:
"Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, Sex or place of birth."
And the right of equality before law and equal protection under the law is guaranteed in Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
And so, in April 2014, the Supreme Court of India ruled in NALSA vs Union of India that the rights and freedoms of transgender people in India were protected under the Constitution; in September 2018, the Supreme Court also decriminalized adult consensual same-sex relationships in the Section 377 judgment review.
If straight men and women have the right to live in this society with respect then why should the same courtesy not be extended to people of alternative sexualities? It’s not about what our religion says it’s about what humanity does.
India is a vast and diverse country and attitudes towards this subject and experiences of LGBTI individuals vary vastly. The disparity between urban and rural India based on language, caste, class and gender add further complexities to understanding this topic more fully. But what we do know is that India’s LGBT citizens are not a “minuscule minority”. They have a voice that is strong and refuse to be silent any longer in their efforts to reclaim equality.
So with the draconian Section 377 gone, what's the way forward?. Today we celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17, a day specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. Such progress was also made towards Gender Dysphoria, albeit much later, in 2013 when Gender Identity Disorder was renamed to remove the stigma that came to be associated with it because of the term 'disorder'. Sadly, an act like this hasn't removed the stigma from the mind of leading babas who claim to cure homosexuality and the issues faced by Transgender people.
There is no cure for it. Only because it's not a disease. It's an identity and expression that we should respect and they are people we should accept.
Being the youth of this developing country its your duty to give space to everyone whoever they want to be .
Remember one thing:
You get to choose how you like to be addressed.
when someone doesn’t conform to what in your head is the norm just give them the space to be whoever they want to be.
#stayhomestaysafe
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