Same-Sex Marriage: A look at India’s progress

By:- Viraaj Kumar Kulshreshtha

India is known worldwide for our reverence, respect, and tendency to have large and extravagant weddings. Yet, a portion of our population has been denied the right to have their union constitutionally recognized. Same-sex marriage is one of the most contentious issues and is not limited to India.
It has been one of the issues at the forefront of the culture war between political parties. Unfortunately, in many cases, it is also the cause that political parties unanimously stand against. It is then imperative that we look at and review India’s progress regarding its treatment of non-cis-hetero-conforming individuals.
The landmark decision decriminalizing same-sex marriage after the Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India case made India among the last significant countries to reach this point. However, this wasn’t an easy road for the LGBTQIA+ community, forcing them to fight for their fundamental rights for the longest time.
However, activists supporting the LGBTQIA+ community have long been active in India. In 1992, the first protest for gay rights in India after independence was held. It was a protest against the then prevalent practise of police harassing and detaining men suspected of homosexuality.

In 2007, Article 377 was recognized by the Delhi High Court to be a violation of the Fundamental Right to Life granted to a person, along with a few other legal prohibitions. As a result of this ruling, combined with the High Court ruling applied to Pan India, the Ministry of Home Affairs expressed its opposition to the decriminalization of homosexuality in 2012, followed by a complete stance reversal by the ministry a few days after they initially expressed their opposition.
Amongst the women’s rights activists, Kiran Bedi is often cited as the person who broke many barriers for women to enter male-dominated fields. Unfortunately, when it came to the LGBTQIA+ community, it seemed as if she was setting up obstacles for other marginalized groups in society. When LGBTQIA+ activists requested the inmates be educated and provided with preventative measures for AIDS, Kiran Bedi strongly opposed it and threatened increased surveillance of the suspected gay detainees.
In December 2015, a bill to repeal Article 377 was raised but was rejected by a majority of the house against the bill. Following this, there were many organized movements for LGBTQIA+ rights in almost every subsequent year leading up to the 2018 decision to repeal the article. Even the supposedly progressive UPA alliance made itself one of the biggest roadblocks throughout the journey to repealing the article.
This is just the preamble to the main concern at hand, the legalization, and acknowledgement of gay marriage in India. Given the present scenario, what is highly outdated and causes a hurdle for same-sex marriage legalization in India is the different marriage acts for each major religion. Activists have been fighting for a uniform civil code for a really long time. When in 2018, the ruling party BJP, showed its support, there was a glimmer of hope that this might pave the way for the amendment of marriage acts to include LGBTQIA+ people.
Unsurprisingly, it was evident that the only goal of the proposal was to cause communal strife when in 2020, the union minister clarified that same-sex marriage was not even in consideration for the proposal. The legal battles started as soon as 2018 with the Shakti Vahini v. Union of India, where it was argued that a consenting adult has the choice of who to marry despite their gender.
The court, however, ruled in a vague manner, which activists say might be interpreted as a pseudo recognition under the Special Marriage Act after joint reading. There were three significant cases in 2020 which were all dismissed by the Union Government –
1.Abhijit Iyer Mitra & Ors v. Union of India;
2.Dr Kavita Arora & Anr v. Union of India; and
3.Vaibhav Jain & Anr v. Union of India.
In January 2021, it was stated that the government had to focus more on the pandemic being a bigger problem. This response was infuriating and somewhat ironic when one considers the incompetency and the inability displayed by the government once the second wave hit India. It is pretty evident that the government was deliberating on the pandemic when in 2020, a bill to set up a central council for homeopathy, a known pseudo-science, was promulgated.
Besides the hurdles mentioned above, there were plenty of minor hurdles that the community as a whole had to overcome. The first amongst these was the presence of misinformation being spread to the public thanks to various social media networks and other forms of media. One of the biggest threats to the existence of homosexuality in rural India is honor killing, where the children are killed by their families if they commit an act that brings “shame” to them. The acts range from inter-caste marriage, homosexuality, or even wearing jeans.
There is an additional layer of misogyny while talking about women and girls as it brings into the context that women are statistically more likely to be victims of crimes such as Honour Killing. On a smaller scale, the disproportionate acts that affect women, such as using gender essentialist language, discouraging inter-caste marriage, or talking about how they should dress, also negatively affect any progress made in LGBTQIA+ rights.
There are two ways to approach these micro and macro issues. We can either use a top-down or bottom-up approach where we change laws or the minds of the masses. However, coming from the top is easier because amending and changing laws has a trickle-down effect and has been successful worldwide. While only one of them would not be enough to ensure a smooth transition into an age of acceptance, as we direct more resources to fight the unjust laws, we also need to slowly change the populace’s view through positive representation in the media.
Even if this seems like an uphill struggle, we need to fight to the top, and if any group is shown to persevere throughout the ages, it is the people of the LGBTQIA+ community. It is also important to remember the progress we have achieved to fuel our future battles. We see an apparent increase in public acceptance of same-sex marriage from 29% in a 2015 poll to 44% in 2021.
We should also be proud of and secure the better treatment of transgender people even when compared to supposedly developed countries like the United States of America or the UK.
Compared to these countries, a country like ours can study and review the laws and the subsequent progress of other countries, amalgamating them to form the best possible environment for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, helping them to feel more comfortable in their skin. It is always helpful for us to be hopeful that same-sex marriage, conversion therapy bans, and adoption rights issues are only looked at in retrospect in the next couple of years.

Caption – India is known worldwide for our reverence, respect, and tendency to have large, extravagant weddings. Still, a portion of our population has been denied the right to have their union constitutionally recognized. Same-sex marriage is one of the most contentious issues and is not limited to India. Over the years, there have been many cases that have been important for the LGBTQ+ Community. Join us as we go over India’s progress when it comes to Same-Sex marriage.

On post: Same-sex marriage is one of the most contentious issues and is not limited to India. It has been one of the issues at the forefront of the culture war between political parties. It is then imperative that we look at and review India’s progress regarding its treatment of non-cis-hetero-conforming individuals.

What If Every Month Was Pride Month?

By: T S Venkat Narayanan

One of the most common issues people around me have raised is –

“Why do we have to treat them special in the month of June? What even is the purpose of pride month? Isn’t it just another way for corporations and clubs to increase their profits/appeal?”

Okay, so first- pride month is celebrated to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which took place in the June of 1969.

Second, yes! It sure is a way for corporations to appear more ‘woke’ and youth-friendly.

Now, the most important question- 

“Why do we have to treat them special in the month of June?”

Well, pride isn’t about treating the people from the community in a special manner. It is more about treating them with respect (like we would treat other humans with), acknowledging their struggle and making them feel part of society instead of an outcast.

In this piece we shall look at how it would be if every month were to be pride month.

Now, with every month being pride month, the significance of pride month would obviously reduce.

“Ohh, how angry it would have all the gays with the spotlight off them for good.”

Ironically, this would instead make the community even happier as it would make more people aware and sympathetic of their struggle. 

It would also normalize their existence in the society.

What would this mean?

People would stare less at them, make them feel less uncomfortable. Companies and organizations would stop using them as a prop like they do in the month of June just to be discarded once the month is over.

Violence and crime against them would reduce in numbers, the members of the community would feel more empowered which would lead to them being more accepted in society, having better healthcare which would cater to their needs. 

Now, wouldn’t that be just nice?

Be An Ally To The Trans Community

By: Devla Pandey

Happy Pride Month! 

This article will be focused on awareness about the ‘T’ in ‘LGBTQIA’ which stands for Transgender. 

The first step involved to be an ally to the trans community is to be aware of some facts and definitions. The word ‘Transgender’ is an adjective denoting or relating to a person whose sense of gender identity does not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is the internal sense of being male, female, or something else, for trans people does not match their birth sex. A transgender woman was labelled as male at birth but has the gender identity of a female. A transgender man was assigned female sex at birth but identifies as male. Some transgender people don’t identify with one gender exclusively or no gender at all. These transgender people are often described as being “non-binary.” Another term that is sometimes used to describe people in this category is “genderqueer.” The opposite of transgender is cisgender, people who identify as cis conform to their sex at birth. 

Another important piece of information is that gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation. The latter term is used to describe a person’s innate preference for romantic or sexual relationships with men, women, or both sexes. Heterosexual/straight people are attracted to members of the opposite sex. Homosexual people (gays and lesbians) are attracted to people of the same sex. Bisexual people are attracted to both men and women. Transgender people may be straight, gay or lesbian, or bisexual. The flag that represents the transgender community was designed by American trans woman Monica Helms. It is a light blue, pink and white pent-colour pride flag. 

Secondly, we must acknowledge their struggles. Being a marginalised community, they’ve been oppressed and discriminated against for the majority of recorded history. Trans people are denied equal access to key social goods, such as employment, health care, education and housing. They’re marginalized in society and one of the weaker sections who are at risk of becoming socially excluded. Daily experiences such as not having separate toilet facilities; they have to use male toilets where they are prone to sexual assault and harassment and having to fill up application forms that use sex and gender interchangeably. The exclusion and discrimination have extremely affected the mental health of transgender persons. Stigmatization of gender-nonconforming and transgender children and youth is amplified in the educational system, which mirrors the rest of society in reinforcing strictly binary and patriarchal gender norms. Transphobia exists, which causes a lot of distress to trans people. Transphobia manifests itself in different forms, for example, physical attacks, discrimination in the workplace and negative media representation. Apart from it all, trans people also deal with gender dysphoria in many cases. It is a condition that causes distress and discomfort when the gender you identify with conflicts with the sex that you were assigned at birth. 

Lastly, we should express our openness and acceptance. The majorities of Transgender people learn to cope, particularly when they have the support of family and friends, and participate in Transgender organizations and social networks. Thus it is crucial to vocally support and fight alongside them against the discrimination they face. Normalise introducing yourself with your pronouns and not make assumptions about others’ pronouns. Be respectful and mindful of phrases or terms that are gendered. Also, consider donating to organizations that support and aid transgender people. Wish them a happy pride month, with a gentle smile!

One World, One Heart, One Pride

By: Gaurpriya Singh Roy

“Loving yourself is the greatest revolution,” proven by the LGBTQ+ community just by doing the most mundane thing: fighting for love, 

Love-a language misunderstood and mistaken. Hence, the month of pride brings to us the opportunity to know and explore the lengths of magnitude people have gone to for the sake of love.

Many consider the month of pride to just mean the celebration of sexuality, but Pride Month is an entire month dedicated to the uplifting of LGBTQ voices, a celebration of LGBTQ culture, and the support of LGBTQ rights. Throughout June, nationwide, there have traditionally been parades, protests, drag performances, live theatre, memorials, and celebrations of life for members of the community who lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. It is part political activism, part celebration of all the LGBTQ community has achieved over the years. Hence, the community knows the actual struggle for this piece of joy acquired.

Over the years, celebrating Pride has grown, not just in numbers within the LGBTQ community but also in popularity. This is wonderful but also presents a few problems. While people stand by watching corporations selectively jump on the bandwagon for a few weeks, the LGBTQ community has to live the truth and support each other all year long.

The month is a monograph of mixed emotions, perspectives, and celebrations—celebrations of not only emotions but also of people, their struggles and joys; mourning their losses and applauding their accomplishments. Although in reality, just a month could never be enough to acknowledge the profundity of joy and sorrow, this one month does sure serve its initial purpose of spreading awareness. ‘The biggest idealism about pride is about hope’, The purpose of this commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally.

They say LGBT people are not people, they are just an ideology. Living in a place where people are dehumanized, we, as individuals, community or not, have to find ways to help, support, and fight for basic rights.

In conclusion, to me, pride refers to the freedom of expressing one’s true self—one that has been masquerading beneath government policies fuelled by orthodox societal norms—specifically those about homophobia—for a very long time. Pride Month and celebrations aren’t just about watching drag queens throw t-shirts from a float or buying items with a rainbow on them. Pride matters for many reasons beyond this and is much more than a few events in the summer. Activists and campaigners have certainly played a crucial role in bringing about what can be seen as a major turn of events in terms of the increasing numbers of egalitarian and human rights cuts across communities throughout the globe. It means celebrating the victories of what the community has achieved so far and also a revolt against what we’re still being deprived of. Thus, pride is and will be a ceaseless fight.

Masked Love

By: Anagha V

“Dear Friend,

Occasionally, when I lay down and closed my eyes, I used to feel like a skatefish in pisciculture. Bleak lifelessness around me – a world drained of joy. They only saw in black and white, do you realize?

The funny thing is, I swam around. I floated around like a little plastic toy, discarded into the vast ocean by some rich spoilt kid. As light, weightless, and wasted. I felt my fins and tail as I traversed the water, the strong current against them. 

My teachers had always told my parents that I was a queer child and that I daydreamed too often. Maybe they did get some part of it right, but I never dared to make the pun evident. Who are dreamers but lost souls, right? 

My room used to be no different from my terror of a thought loop. It was almost like a black hole, everything sucked you in, and you lost your nature. You know, like the universe is no longer to be governed by the Laws of Senses. If absurdism gets narrowed down, the only thing defined in it would be human hypocrisy. They ask you to love and then say you are not supposed to. They preach to you to be true to yourself but accept only sugar-coated lies. I know.

My school was no better. It was not like my friends were any kinder. Their images flickered in and out of my daily life like a television channel on a poor signal. Despite being left with all these people around me, I was permitted only to use one bland, broken communication device. Will they ever know me for who I truly am? And then I’m in the pond again, my form obscuring my vision. Would it have changed who I am? Would I have forgotten who I was? I am glad you were there through all this. 

At times I used to feel like this life was a conspiracy. But then you told me about the other colorful, joyous worlds I could spiral into when I was lost. Maybe all everyone in such a wicked world as mine needs is an ally. Things did not seem as hard. I finally had the courage to stand up for myself. You were not right by my side physically, true. But you were with me, in your heart. That is more than anything I wanted or needed. All this suffocation of shutting myself inside is finally off my shoulder, and I just wanted to say thank you.”

People are often just scared to speak up for themselves. They have to realize that what makes them unique is everything about them- their age, gender, identity, sexuality, interests, and whatnot. The pride community is not for today’s relief or tomorrow’s comfort. It is a movement for as long as it takes. And it is home. To love is human, and to love is divine.

Pride and Disprejudice

By: Dibyan Goswami

“Genders are like twin towers, earlier there were two but now it’s just a sensitive subject”. This is exactly what is wrong with our perception of gender, gender in itself is not a sensitive or confusing subject but it is our arrogance that makes it so. The fact is straight-forward, gender is not a discrete spectrum but rather a continuous spectrum of human identities. It is nothing to be afraid of or to be disgusted with but rather a change that should be welcomed with warmth as it is this change of gender identity that accommodates fellow humans as humans.

Disagreers would often say how earlier there was no mention of LGBTQ ever and gender was binary. But that’s exactly where we go wrong, if we were to broaden the time upto which our “earlier” extended, that is, if we go back to the ancient world, there was never any mention of LGBTQ because there was no concept of heterosexual or homosexual relationships. There was no “us” and “them”, it was only “us” and it was all about loving who one liked. In fact, same sex-relationships were highly common in Mesopotamia. In ancient Mesopotamia, god Enki is said to have created a third-gender as servants for his daughter, thus, the non-binary gender was recognised thousands of years ago as the third gender. The Almanac of Incantations contains prayers for both opposite and same-sex marriage proving how gods even blessed same-sex relationships.

Records dating back to 600 BCE refer to same sex-relationships in China where it was believed that the upper class lover would dignify the lower class lover, bringing prosperity into his life. Chinese literature is home to several poems and anecdotes on same-sex relationships, one of these known as “the cut sleeve” tells how emperor Ai was resting with his lover Dong Xian who had fallen asleep on Ai’s robe. Instead of waking up Dong Xian, emperor Ai instead cut off his sleeve so that his lover could sleep peacefully and went to attend court in a disheveled state. Isn’t this a very wholesome story? There is nothing wrong in bringing back a tradition that can be home to thousands of such wholesome stories.

Back in 1250 BCE, the Indian law code, Manusmriti treats both same-sex and oppsite-sex relationships equally and the Kama Sutra references the third gender too. While the third gender (Hijra) is marginalized in present day India, there is nothing in ancient scriptures that marginalizes them. Our culture is undoubtedly one of the richest cultures in the world and we should be proud of it. While we talk of returning to our traditional values, it is still a taboo to talk about same-sex relationships. While the ancient Indian culture never stigmatized same-sex relationships and transgenders, “modern-day” Indian culture does, surprisingly, same-sex relationships in India were made illegal by a colonial era law establised by the Britishers. Now, in modern-day British culture, same-sex relationships are being welcomed as an indication of a more “modern”, self-aware and educated society. Irony lies in the fact that our society was always more welcoming and wholesome for the third gender and same-sex relationsips.

Thus, talks about pride month shouldn’t really trigger us or make us feel uncomfortable, rather they should act as a reminder of our ancient culture that made India the richest country at one point of time, home to the strongest empires and housing the most diverse and rich culture. Hence, as an Indian we should proudly talk about same-sex relationships and rights for the LGBTQ+ community. In the end, it is all about loving who you like as love knows no gender.

Holy Matrimony

By – Danika Shrivastava

The year started on a good note for Amna. Last year, her elder daughter, Ayesha, got married to a very mature and handsome young man from a prosperous family. But for the past few weeks, she was worried about her younger daughter’s marriage prospects; Ahana, who had gone to London to pursue her economics major and just graduated. But instead of returning, she stayed back in London. She wanted to find a groom for her daughter, the way she found one for her elder one. But when Ahana, her younger daughter, decided to stay back and explore the city, a myriad of unholy thoughts erupted in her mind. What if she decides not to marry, and all the eligible guys get married to other girls? Or even worse, what if she married outside her religion. But they seemed meaningless worries of the past, as only a few days back, Ahana had decided to get married. And not just that, her daughter had called her to inform her that the person she chose as her suitor is Shahyar Khan, a well-off lawyer by profession.

Their home was decorated, kebabs were rolled on the grill, dry fruits were steeped with sweetened milk as the preparations to welcome the guest were underway. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Ahana. She pulled her into a tight hug while her eyes were meandering to see her groom. But instead, all she saw was another girl, whom she assumed was a friend of hers. She asked her, “Where is Shahyar?” A slight smile rose on her face as she said, “Ammi, this is Shahyar.”

For a moment, Amna was bewildered. She thought it was a prank, which her daughter had been very fond of playing since her childhood. But when they came inside holding hands, her fears began to rise again. She inquired about her again but got the same response. Finally realizing the truth, she lost her cool. 

“How can you do this? This is forbidden. A woman can only be a wife to a man. Are you out of your mind?” she screamed. Within minutes, this evolved into a full-fledged fight. While Amna tried hard to justify her thinking, Ahana only made things worse by questioning her blind faith and ridiculing her thinking.

Amna retired back to her kitchen in tears. Shahyar tried to talk to Ahana to realize that it takes time for people, unknown to the LGBTQ community, to get along with it. But Ahana kept saying that they both should return to London, get married, and forget anything happened.

While a sorrowful atmosphere surrounded their house, Amna’s maternal instinct kicked in when she realized that both the girls must have been hungry. So, she took some kebabs and brought them to the girls, parallelly trying to make her daughter realize that what she was doing was wrong. 

Suddenly, Ayesha stepped in through the front entrance, tears flowing down her face, murmuring something between her cries.

Ahana and Amna rushed to her side and asked what was wrong. While weeping, Ayesha told them that her husband had just decided to remarry another girl, and when she protested, he instantly threatened her with divorce and yelled “talaq” twice. And now she cannot live under the same roof with him and demanded that before he could, she wanted to separate. 

This incident shocked Amna to an extent she could not have imagined. How could the perfect groom do such a thing to her daughter? Words failed her, and she ran back into the kitchen in utter shock.

While the situation was not what Shahyar expected, she still believed that Ahana’s mother would eventually accept her.  Ahana’s mother reminded her of her own mom. She supported her from the streets of London to getting educated in one of the top colleges.

Since Ahana was preoccupied with consoling her inconsolable sister, she sensed Amna alone in the kitchen. So, she decided to go and comfort Amna. She saw Amna cooking milk before putting in dry fruits in the kitchen. She gently passed the bowl of dry fruits to her and calmly said, “Aunty! I know I am not the son in law that you might have expected for Ahana, but I can promise that I will always be there for her. And I will never let her cry”.

Listening to Shahyar, Amna started to question how someone supposed to be the perfect husband could treat their wife this way. What is the true essence of marriage? Is it love or is it to be with someone because society deems it so? And as she was questioning her thoughts on marriage, she further doubted whether love was bound to gender or the person and their beliefs. 

Without love, even the best of the marriage may tarnish, and with love, no matter what society says, even the most eccentric marriage can flourish. 

She may not have accepted Shahyar yet, but she began to question her beliefs to fit into this modern society. Amna suddenly smiled at Shahyar and made her sit with her daughters, Ayesha and Ahana. Amna had tears of happiness in her eyes as she brought out the kheer and served it to her three daughters.

Marks of mutation

-by Aniket Banga

“Hey bud, pass me the popper!” says Bug when he points towards an orange hard drive with a semi worn-out plastic film. They call it a “popper” because it has digital blueprints of the security network, sitting between the mesh of wires at one corner of the table in that one tiny basement at his uncle’s old suburban homestead, which wasn’t very well ventilated or well lit in particular but served the purpose for Michael and Bug as their secret hideout. Michael stretches his arm to the end, untangling the wires and fetching the drive while bug keeps a check on the timer and the network link. They find a link that would connect them directly to the Pentagon’s server. Michael turns towards him passing the drive and looks at him and asks, “Are you sure our parents won’t find out?” and Bug smiles while sticking his eyes to the screen saying “Oh shit! Things just got exciting!”. 25 mins later and 3 firewalls into the system before they can access the nuke codes to the mobile launcher which siloed the16 PAC-3 missiles that were kept at the military station outside San Francisco, the alarm went off and the officials found out about the hack and both Bug and Michael were arrested. Michael took the entire blame on himself because he was still 11 and could get away with the hack by spending time under juvenile detention while bug would have been prosecuted for the same.

5 years later, when Michael finally got out, his father was there to receive him while his mother wasn’t very happy with his return so she took his sister to the market. He gets admitted to an all-boys school this time which is 10 miles away from his place. Even though going to school was a real struggle, Michael was still happy because he had 2 things to look forward to – he was subject to early dysphoria. His parents would call him out every time he tried wearing any of his sister’s outfits and not let him be friends with the 3 girls who lived next door as they were a strong feminine influence on him. As a result, Michael grew up to hate his parents, but now he could spend more time outside their watch. The second reason was that he always wanted to swim and this new school had an Olympic size pool which was a dream come true for him. A few days after he got into school, mike went for his first P.E class, looking at the pool from the door through the corridor he couldn’t contain himself with all the excitement and rush he felt while imagining his body completely free in the middle of the pool away from all the hatred and judgements, just feeling the bliss of his existence which he was craving for the past 5 years in the detention house. One thing that was bothering him was that he didn’t know how things function in a locker room because during the 5 years he spent in prison, he never got to experience conventional schooling. He was worried that this could somehow get him in trouble and it did, he was subjected to one of the first and the deepest traumas of his life.

He walks into the locker room and sees everyone changing clothes and taking showers completely naked, and that’s where his body-conscious state kicks in. He tries to cross the swarm with his towel wrapped around his body but the kids stop him and start calling him out for covering his body. He tries to push them away which makes them even more aggressive and the two of them pull his towel off while the others burn his body with hot water to teach him a lesson and make him abide by the rules of the locker room. This one incident got him so terrified of people that post this, he never took swimming lessons again, he only stayed under shadows at school and couldn’t even dare to step out of his class during breaks and would rush to the bus stand as soon as he would hear the bell. Michael had faced similar cases of social unacceptance before but none of them bothered him as much cause he always had Bug, this time though, he didn’t have anyone to share his woe with, he was forced to stay away from Bug for his parents found him a negative influence.

Growing up, he still had a thing for computers and spent all his time either on the internet learning how to hack or about the pride community that his sister introduced him to and where he would always feel accepted. He got to learn all about the government’s policies while trying to know his rights as a person who was born transgender. He was pressurised to grow up as a boy, but felt comfortable in the body of a woman and identified as a lesbian. He eventually took his hormonal therapy and had surgeries to change the body’s anatomy. Michael has grown up to become an ethical hacker, while also maintaining a public activist blog. He has officially changed his name to Nomi and chooses to identify as a woman. Nomi found the one ‘friend’ she always needed in the form of her life partner amanita. She still has all the ups and downs in her life, some even bigger than hacking the Pentagon, but now she finally has family in that one person and knows that whatever might happen, they’ll always have each other’s backs. She continues to advocate for change and lives her life unapologetically.

Unlearning Education

-by Sutanuka Chanda

When I was ten years old, my mother had a student in twelfth grade who liked to wear a lot of makeup. He came to school with his eyes lined with star white eyeliner and lashes done up to touch his forehead. He drew out his words and talked in a sing-song way; his lean hands accentuated his lithe physique when he walked – sashayed, towards his class. I remember my mother telling my father about how the girls in the class complained about the boy getting a free pass to wear makeup, and how they were shut down by the principal because he is “like that”, “he’s not a normal kid”.

On one hand, the school indirectly provided him with the freedom and expression he must have terribly needed at that fragile teenage point, to be able to be able to express himself to the  fullest, in a place where he might have been – and probably was – heavily judged. The young guy must have had his breath of relief only during school hours where he could have been anyone he wanted, unapologetically.

Or maybe not. Looking back, maybe he was under the pressure of those unwanted stares, the bouts of laughter, and a snarl behind his back. Maybe he had a constant, underlying fear of being bullied and ridiculed, for the better part of his formative years. Maybe the makeup was an act of rebellion, an act of fiercely owning up to his identity, or maybe it was forced, an armour of shamelessly wearing his skin for everyone to see, bravado screaming “Come at me! This is me! This is who I am! Do your best!”

His Facebook page says he is in a happy relationship with a guy with highlighted curls, working in a multinational company, and living his best life. I wonder if he thinks about the blatant stereotypes that were identified with him, about how wearing white eyeliner automatically labelled him as gay and not manly enough. I wonder if he remembers that he was treated like an extra-terrestrial creature because of his makeup and then-probable sexuality, that the only reason the principal of the school let him be an exception was that no one wanted to deal with a maybe non-heterosexual person, and they found it easier to just let him have his way.

I wonder if he thinks about it because I do. Every time I read a comment under an Instagram post of a troll using the queer community as an insult, hurling slurs at anyone who decides to break through the gender norms, I wonder if that is what they were taught in school. I wonder if the hate that was taught to them, comes from a place of education, a place meant to be teaching acceptance.

Indian high schools and teachers are notoriously famous for verbally, sometimes physically, abusing their students for their alleged or confirmed sexuality. Homophobia and the complicity of school authorities to take any steps against it is a largely unaddressed matter. The students suffer silently, under the impression of their “inherent wrongness and the biological imbalance that goes against nature.”

In April 2018, a young queer girl from Chennai, was verbally abused by her teachers and asked to go “kill herself” by the principal because of her sexuality that was leaked by her classmates on the internet, who were are built of the same fabric as the homophobic school authorities. The matter led to a suicide and years of prolonged mental trauma.

All over the country, this trend is followed in schools where the students are pulled up by the littlest things from their mannerisms, to their clothing style or body language, to anything that dares to disagree with the conformational gender stereotype.

What do we do when teachers and authorities who are the building blocks of the nation, who are responsible for framing the minds of everyone in this world, discriminate against someone because they cannot unlearn the hate they were taught, and instead project it onto impressionable minds, creating a vicious cycle that continues throughout the years, not just within the school boundaries but also on the roads, in the cyberspace, at food courts – everywhere.

The stories are uncountable throughout geographies, but the hate for the students are bound by the same thread of prejudice, gender stereotypes, and discrimination that prevail in these institutions. The blatant need for sex education, a certified therapist, and strong actions against bullying are rising over the edge. It is not difficult to imagine where the hate and discrimination comes from, considering our country’s past to make sexuality and physical intimacy a taboo.

We need to make sure that the cycle ends with us not just in the four walls of schools and colleges but every conglomeration the queer people are a part of. We need to unlearn the hate that is taught to us under the pretense of morality and Indian culture. When all a tradition does is spread hate against people for being themselves, it’s time to let go of it.

Transphobia

In countries like India where transgenders are celebrated and homosexuality is well portrayed in ancient history and arts, colonialization has severely ruined the culture. On the other hand, the world right now has leaders legalizing homosexuality and gay marriages and still having a sense of transphobia or homophobia. 

Here are some positive news headlines that caught my attention:

->Ellen Page- the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno” recently come out as a transgender, and introduced himself as Elliot Page. He came out as a gay in 2014 and since then has been the flagbearer of the handful stars from LGBTQ community. 

->On the human rights day, Bhutan became the latest country to approve a bill that decriminalizes homosexuality.

-> Surprisingly, the top-most official of the Mexican Catholic Church agreed with Pope Francis’s comments that are concerned with the welfare of LGBTQ+ children.

->Clément Beaune, the French European Affairs Minister came out as gay recently and became the representative of a mass change in face of the conservative ideologies of EU. 

-> Mara Gomez, 23, made her debut as the first trans player to play for the highest division of Argentine soccer. 

-> Northern Ireland legalised abortion and same-sex marriage a year ago. Now the legislation has come into effect which enables couples to convert their same-sex civil partnership to a marriage.

Then there are some headlines which broke my heart:

->A Turkish group of 19 people at Ankara’s MET University will face a trial for staging a peaceful protest during the annual pride march, which was violently broken up by police and over 20 students were arrested.

->Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party made “LGBT-free” zones making them vulnerable to face discrimination. It also supports organizations that spread homophobia. 

->JK Rowling faced backlash for allegedly insulting the transgender community through her comments. Controversies sparked when she was called a TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist) for using “people who menstruate” instead of women. 

So, clearly, there’s an upstanding majority which is trans/ homophobic. In fact, the statement is an undertone if it had to indicate the hostility faced by the transgender community all over the world. The hostility isn’t restricted to jokes or hatred but severe violence and invasiveness. 

In the most progressive countries of the world, there are politicians and influential people rallying to criminalize health care for transgenders- denying their right to exist. 

It’s the transphobes and homophobes who have blood on their hands, their demeaning rage and insulting comments which are responsible for the four times higher rate of suicide attempts of the trans community as compared to their heterosexual counterparts. 

Factually, our lived experiences indicate our complex histories thereby guiding our opinions and often creating the prism of our biases. But the mainstream media continues to ignore the adversities faced by the trans community and keeps us devoid of all such experiences which is why we fail to realise the gravity of the situation.

The LGBTQ youth face more bullying, cyberbullying, stigma, anxiety, attention deficit disorders, abject rejection, mistreatment, homelessness and substance abuse. While the people belonging to LGBTQ+ community are more resilient and soldier through all the adversities, they face poor mental health outcomes like increased risks of depression and self-inflicted injuries due to their cisgender peer victimization and non-supportive family members. Their medical needs often remain unmet. Sadly, they are not even safe in their own homes. Repulsion, pity and social rejection are all forms of homophobia. This not only compromises their integrity but inhibits them from making intimate bonds with the ones who they love.

The broad contention of the LGBTQ+ community and human rights activists is that- biological sex and gender identity should be recognized distinctively. And No! In differentiating these terms, discrimination against women is not being perpetuated while it is possible that the cis-identity and its majoritarian privileges are confounding in the face of the odds that the transgender community has to face, their voices remain unheard.

Transphobia and Homophobia are rooted in sexism. It has been ingrained in our minds that males and females are two mutually exclusive rigid sexes, and possess unique and non-overlapping abilities, traits and desires. Traditionally masculinity was considered superior to femininity which further fueled insecurities in people about gender norms. 

Flaws in teaching and the lack of education on sexual drives and experiences of the non-binary genders also incite sexual violence towards transgenders.

Well, in simpler words, having a gender preference that discriminates against the transgender community, makes you transphobic and claiming for the rights of cisgendered doesn’t. But claiming the rights of just the cisgenders and undermining those of the transgenders does. One thing that we need to understand is that they are not “confused” about their sexuality and are in no way “wrong” or “unfortunate” or “outcasts”. And there’s no “real” or binary gender as such. Social acceptance is primary and foremost to let go of our homophobia or biphobia or transphobia! There’s nothing wrong in embracing who you are.

References:

The Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page comes out as transgender

High-ranking Catholic official agrees with Pope Francis’s support for the LGBTQ+ community

Same-sex couples in Northern Ireland able to marry for the first time

French cabinet minister comes out as gay and vows to fight ‘LGBT-free’ zones in Poland

Mara Gomez debuts as Argentina’s first trans pro soccer player in historic match

Students in Turkey are facing three-year jail sentences for celebrating Pride

50 countries call for an end to Poland’s anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/jk-rowling-transgender-remarks-controversy-explained-6484322/

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