The supreme court passed a historic verdict on the 6th of September 2018 in favour of the LGBTQ+ community in India, giving them the freedom of privacy and the right to live their lives with dignity. People across the nation celebrated with tremendous enthusiasm and relief.
But was this the final win? It took 157 years to reach this point, but the question is, is it going to take Indian society another 100 years to accept the LGBTQ+ community? According to the figures submitted to the SC in 2012, there were about 2.5 million gay people in India, which proves that there were not just a handful of people fighting for the freedom of self-acceptance. In spite of this, the community faced bullying and experienced physical violence.
We need to understand that homosexuality is not an option, but that a person is born gay. People often suggest that homosexuality is against nature, but I believe, being evil, being unkind, killing people, and other inhumane acts are the real issues that go against nature.
If you think being gay is against Indian culture, then you should know that laws are not based on cultural preferences; instead, they are grounded in logic. Also, when you speak of Indian culture, you should not forget that child marriage, satipratha, dowry and women who are compelled to see the world through a veil are all examples of the Indian cultural norms; does this mean you support these traditions?
A few days ago, I had a conversation with one of my school friends who is a lesbian. She told me about her journey of self-acceptance. In her words; “When I was in school, you all knew that I was different, I was not like you all guys. Even I was not sure what’s wrong with me, I thought I’m the only one suffering, I’m the only one who needed medical help. All those thoughts used to make me feel devastated and confused. I even googled this, about how I feel. Yeah, I came to know about lesbians, but still, the whole concept was not clear to me, especially when I had no one to discuss this. In school, our seniors used to say things that used to make the situation worse for me. After that, when I moved to another place, I found a girl who was like me. And from there, I started learning more about homosexuality and knew that I was not the only one. After that, I came to Delhi for my graduation and here I found more people like me. Not only that, but they also inspired and motivated me to accept the way I am and told me that being a homosexual is not a problem but a unique personality. And today, I’m proud of being a lesbian, I even told my parents about everything and I think they accepted me the way I am. And when we talk about section 377 and the verdict by SC, I think it’s going to support us to fight against the mentality of society and help more people like me to accept who they are.”
When I asked her about why she didn’t contact us for the last five years, her reply just made me sad. She said, “I was not sure if you all would accept me for being a lesbian. After being a member of the heterosexual society, I didn’t know if you would understand me and the whole situation!”
Somehow, I felt her words were justified. Even if we are not against homosexuals, even if we support and encourage them for who they are, we hardly show them that we understand and respect their self-acceptance.
I believe this can save people, especially teens like the girl from Kerala who recently attempted suicide for being bullied at college. Showing genuine support can also empower members of the LGBTQ+ community to fight against society’s biased behaviours and views.