Gay rights and human rights are one and the same
~Hillary Clinton
I feel ashamed to admit that as a child, I was not aware of homosexuality as a concept. My first tryst with homosexuality was that ridiculous 2008 film ‘Dostana’ starring Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. Though the film was supposed to be a comedy, it did open up a lot of discussion on homosexuality and what it was like to be a gay or a lesbian in a reserved society like ours. The immediate effect of the film was not very good. The film intended to treat homosexuality as a joke and it succeeded. The term ‘Gay’ became a joke for most people. Still is. Especially men who are effeminate became the butt of jokes in their respective circles. Even I was asked by a fellow classmate whether I was a lesbian just because I spent my time mostly with my female friends. It’s been more than a decade since then. A lot has changed and a lot hasn’t. A lot has changed for the better and a lot has changed for the worse. Not only homosexual, more and more people, who don’t conform to the societal definition of male and female and heterosexuality, have come out of the closet. Today there are many people who identify as a gay, a lesbian, a transsexual, an asexual and are living a life with their head held high with the support of their close ones. Even though most of the mainstream movies still continue to ridicule them, some of them stand out with their considerate representation of the gay community. Films like Call Me By Your Name, Carol, Margharita with a Straw show us how far we have come as a society and how far we still have to go. Recently I watched a web series on AltBalaji called ‘Romil and Jugal’ which dealt with a modern-day gay love story. The way they have handled the theme oh so maturely left me spellbound. But all these forward steps towards full acceptance can’t erase the not-so-sunny incidents that is happening around us. Instances of homophobic violence have increased. US President Trump, while avoiding LGBT Issues, has rolled back a number of LGBT protections during the president’s first six months in office. Even in India, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat while speaking on LGBT issues said, “In the army these are not acceptable. We will still be dealing with them under various sections of the army act.” Such incidents prove to be quite detrimental to the efforts of so many LGBT rights activists who have toiled day and night to fight this.
I often engage in heated discussions regarding this topic. What I have found that most of the arguments regarding this revolve around the question of whether homosexuality is normal or not. And I have said this a million times and I am going to say again. As a child, all of us have learnt that Biology is the science of exception. If we can accept the fact that a mammal Duck-billed Platypus can lay eggs, why can’t we accept the fact that two men can love each other or that two women can love each other in a way that is romantic. And even if it were not so, why can’t we accept that above male and female and everything, all of us are humans and infringing upon someone’s right to love is violating a human right? When did violation of human rights become normal?For the religious ones, here’s an example for you. In Mahabharata, Arjuna took on the disguise of a transgender while living in incognito. If such a concept existed in an epic like Mahabharata, why is it so hard to believe that they can exist in real world too. Sadly all these arguments and counter-arguments won’t change a thing if we don’t start to respect and accept a person as he is with all his differences and idiosyncrasies. So, next time you talk to anyone, be a little more respectful.
Splendid experiences 