The days of only black or white are over, let there be colours everywhere. Let the Rainbow Reign.
Sneha Balakrishnan
We all love to see a rainbow. So beautiful and pure. But we seem to forget the fact that it is more amazing to see rainbows in people. Being unique is spoken well of; yet it took centuries for the LGBTQ community to come out into society just to be partially accepted. It isn’t difficult to explain or understand the science and biology of human beings. Yet the perception on the Queer community seems unchanged. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer – LGBTQ gained more voice in recent times when it finally got unmuted in society. We always teach our children to be unique, but what is uniqueness?
We are all bound by atoms. A small misplacement or change can alter the entire structure of atoms. Speaking in terms of biology, every human being has 23 pairs of chromosomes out of which one is sex chromosome. Sexual oritentations are decided by these chromosomes. So technically speaking, a person’s sexual orientation is never their choice. Analyzing the starting point of this problem, it is evident that we are all polished with certain norms and beliefs that are so rooted deep inside of us, even if we are ready to change or accept them, something always holds us back. Our mind is molded to see normal and perfection in all aspects, but imperfections too have their reasons. Just because two types of genders are more prominent and majority doesn’t mean that other gender identifications don't stand a chance. The world of today is here because of its varied diversity and differences. Here, people who belong to a community are fighting for their rights even when they didn’t choose this lifestyle. The world teaches children to be in uniformity from childhood itself. Pink for girls, blue for boys, barbies for girls, cars for boys and so on. These things may seem so little but the impact they create mould their perception as well as personality. When the minds of children are cemented to these kind of baseline, it will be really difficult to think and act otherwise. It will also create commotion in one’s own life when it comes to undertand their own gender identity.
Maintaining an identity is not easy in this world. There are many factors that affect its process. Taking today’s scenario, the mass media is on the lead. Media may not tell you what to think, but it can tell you what to think about. Media is busy getting all facts “straight” rather than providing a platform to listen to other perspectives. The condition of LGBTQ community is improving slowly. Homosexual people are no longer diagonsed as mental illness. Some of the drastic changes and movements started in recent years. Voices are getting stronger than ever.
What is our role here as individuals? We must accept the flow of life first. We feel, see and hear things the way we are taught to perceive them. Break that barrier. Hear from all sides of the story, Don’t try to invade into someone’s privacy and boundaries. Let there be equity rather than equality. There is enough discrimination faced by various people, don’t add more to it. Just as everyone’s genetics is different, different identities will bring new things to this world through their diversity. Embrace it rather than discriminating or harssesing those who are different. Abolish ‘conversion therapy’, which tries to diminish one’s personality into a so called ‘normal version’, which in fact will make them more susceptible to volatile behavior. Provide equity in the workplace and in other fields. Keep national and international competitions open to everyone including the queer community. Article 15 of our Indian Constitution upholds ‘Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.’ Let’s make sure that this right is available to every citizen of this country. Taking even a small step will have great results.
Teaching children to verbalize their identity without any hesitation and shame, allocating provisions to mention one’s gender other than just male or female in forms and applications, counseling should be available to both children and parents to cope up with the changes. There should be awareness sessions and other programmes to educate societies and country to treat the individuals from LGBTQ community with human respect. The support from society can change the situation a lot, opening up new paths for a better tomorrrow.
It’s difficult to find an easy closure to such a topic; but we must keep trying harder; perhaps it is not impossible. We are now in the 21st century. Ideologies and mannerisms are more advanced and are moving towards different horizons. Discrimination and harssements against LGBTQ community should go; as we accepts flaws and imperfections in oneself, format our mind to the setting where you treat each and every human being with justice and equity. Let there be no choices that are imposed. The days of only black or white are over, let there be colours everywhere. Let the Rainbow Reign.
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