A Rainbow State of Mind

 

"People share a common nature but are trained in gender roles," says Grace Farrell. 

The conversations around gender equality and sexual orientations are at an all-time high, and we are for one glad about it. For the longest time, the stigma around stereotyping sexual orientations was kept numb. Although there are pieces of evidence of same-sex relationships found in ancient scripts of countries like Africa, China, India, Japan among others; it is very difficult to process that some countries have not only not legalized, but criminalized these relationships.

However, like it is said, you can run away from it but not hide it, the sun of a bright future rose in India on the 6th September 2018 when the Supreme court brought about a revolutionary verdict stating, “We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution” which not only legalized same-sex consensual relationship among two fit adults but also amended the Articles 15 and 21 of the constitution to benefit transgenders to enjoy all the fundamental rights that other citizens of India could enjoy.

But, even after two and half years, the majority of the population still has the least idea because conversations are still being shushed. The event is very much similar to saying “Voldemort” in the Hogwarts Great Hall. Nevertheless, we as a community think "it's never too late to learn". So, here is a detailed description of the LGBTQ community;

• L stands for Lesbian; referring to a woman who has emotional/physical attraction towards other women. They often also refer to themselves as gay.

• G stands for Gay; referring to a man who has emotional/physical attraction towards other men.

• B stands for Bisexual; referring to people who endure emotional/physical attraction to those of the same gender and of the other gender too. It differs from person to person, also no, no sexual experience is required to identify as a bisexual.

• T stands for Transgender; is often used as an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the gender they are born in. Doctors recommend hormonal medicines and surgery to align these people to their identities, however, it is not a compulsion.

• Q stands for Queer; it is an adjective used usually by the younger generation to identify themselves not typically heterosexual, but also not to be fit in any of the above identities. This is a new addition to the community, and there is still some speculation around it in the LGBT community.

• Q also stands for Questioning, for somebody who is still in the process to identify their sexuality. 

With the new revolutionary wind blowing over these sushed topics, we can only hope people start to reject inhibitions and start accepting themselves and people around them as they as just like how Nathaniel Brandan says, “ The first step towards change is awareness and the second is acceptance”.