How Does Homophobic Mindset Of Indian Society Kills Humanity

 

Every year Pride Month comes and goes, but homophobia in India is still here to stay like a demon. Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is embedded into people’s minds leading to a whole spectrum of derogatory practices.

According to Merriam-Webster, homophobia can be defined as an “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or gay people.”

It is a culturally produced fear of or prejudice against homosexuals. Homophobic and Transphobic terms are often thrown around loosely under the guise of 'humour' or 'friendly bullying.’

Have you ever thought-why, LGBTQ+ community still face discrimination in our country? Why, we have all discriminated against persons based on something that is completely out of their control, be it the family that they were born into, their sexuality, their financial background, their looks, their wits, etc.

However, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement on September 6, 2018, unanimously struck down part of the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalised gay sex, saying that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity.

But the law can only change the law, not the attitude, behaviour and homophobic mindset of the people. It will take many more years or decades before we can actually eradicate the stigma of being gay or transgender. While many remain indifferent, the trans and homophobic population will continue to judge and discriminate. At best, many of them will be indifferent and ignore their existence and at worst, we will continue to see hate crimes and violence targeting them. Moral policing often does not have a relationship with what law says or what the reality.

A study published in 2009 compared gay, lesbian, and bisexual young adults who experienced strong rejection from their families. They were 8 times more likely to have tried to commit suicide, 6 times more likely to report high levels of depression and 3 times more likely to use illegal drugs.

Somewhere, urban Indians are becoming aware of LGBTQ rights and are ready to acknowledge and make their voice heard through social media, pride parades and meetups.

But, far away from this acceptance, families in rural India indulge in secret honour killings of gay men, lesbian women are subjected to family-sanctioned corrective rapes, which are often perpetrated by their own family members. Refusal to marry brings more physical abuse.

Homophobic mindsets of Indian society,

India is a homophobic nation whose 60% of population lives in rural. That means they are not a bit exposed to homosexual rights, issues, and activism. For them there are only three kinds of people: men, women and Hijras (transgenders). For them the idea that a reproductivly normal healthy man can harbor sexual feelings for another man is beyond imagination. That is also Indian youth.

The ignorance and unwillingness to unlearn the stereotypes and stigma about homosexuality are one of the reasons that the progress has been happening at a snail’s pace. If we don’t nip the bud of homophobia in Indian families, it will continue to pass on like religious and family legacies.

Homophobic landlords refuse to lend their houses to gay and lesbian couples because of the society and instruct their children to stay away because they’ll convert them into a homosexual.

Homophobia, like racism and xenophobia, exists to varying degrees in all societies. Everyday, in every country, individuals are persecuted, vilified or violently assaulted, and even killed, because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Covert or overt, homophobic violence causes enormous suffering which is often shrouded in a veil of silence and endured in isolation.

According to the survey, age is a major factor when it comes to being accepting of homosexuality. While nearly 30 percent of 15 to 17-year-olds were accepting of homosexuality, the figure dropped to 20 percent when we move up to the 30 to 34-year-old age group. The survey also recognised that 31 percent of the Indian youth believes same-sex relationships should continue to be a criminal offence.

India still remains massively backwards at giving members of the LGBTQ+ community basic respect; they are still battling to empower themselves and for acceptance by so-called "commoners'; they stumble upon orthodox thinking of Indian  society.

Diffirent studies showed homophobic behaviour towards LGBTQ+ people in India.

- Data on public opinion from 2006 shows that 41 percent of Indians would not want a homosexual neighbor, and 64 percent believe that homosexuality is never justified. Negative attitudes have diminished over time, however.

- Homosexual behavior is criminalized in India, no protective legislation exists for LGBT people, though transgender people in India have only recently been accorded full legal rights and recognition through a Supreme Court decision.

- LGBT people in India report experiences of violence, rejection, and discrimination, including in employment, education, health care, and access to social services. High rates of poverty are found in some studies of LGBT people.

- Public health studies find evidence of health disparities that are linked to stigma and exclusion. Rates of the prevalence of depression, suicidal thinking, and HIV among LGBT people are higher than rates for the general population.

Homophobic people refused to accept organ from LGBTQ donors,

A BIZZARE survey, conducted by Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance with Karvy Insights in 2019, across 12 cities in India, revealed that among 1565 respondents 56 percent of Indians would REFUSE an organ from a homosexual person while 54 percent believe that LGBTQ persons should not be allowed to donate organs at all; people believed organ donation could affect the process of rebirth.

This is not the only time that the LGBTQ community has been stigmatized when it comes to healthcare. National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), the state-owned regulator of AIDS in India, classifies LGBTQ donors as high risk, meaning they are not allowed to donate blood for transfusions.

Homophobia in the workplace,

With the growth of the Indian economy, questions emerge as to whether the Indian LGBTQ+ community is enjoying equal access to employment opportunities in this developing nation.

Not many individuals belonging to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community are open about their identity in society or at their workplace. There is scarcity of data on LGBT+ employees at the workplace in India with very few employers encouraging active hiring of the community or considering having policies in place for these individuals.

Another major study, conducted by Mumbai-based LGBTQ advocacy organization Mingle (Mission for Indian Gay and Lesbian Empowerment) has found that homophobia in the workplace is ‘rampant’.

Among various other facts, the study reveals that more than half of the people they had surveyed claim to have not been covered by discrimination policies which would prevent them from being fired simply on the basis of being LGBTQ. 40% of them said that they were often or sometimes subject to actual workplace harassment because of their sexuality, and two-thirds of them said that even when not directly harassed, they are subject to frequent homophobic remarks from colleagues. These stats are disturbing indeed, and show how deep the prejudice goes.

Will situation ever change?,

"Our society has been inflicting pain on the LGBTQ community for so long, and  it owes them an apology. But our society’s conservative nature will never leave hold of people’s minds. It is almost impossible to change the mentality of people who have already made up their minds that a certain community is dangerous for society. We have to understand that homophobia is badly affecting their lives."- (in Justice Indu Malhotra’s words).

It is not easy to change the homophobic mindsets of society because many people are not yet exposed to this concept. It requires a lot of hard work and might cost us huge. But with the outside world embracing the different colours of love, this struggle can become easier; it takes time for a country like ours to accept these things because it’s against their beliefs.

Laws that normalize gay sex, Bollywood depicting homosexuality and many inspiring stories of gay couples fighting stigma and getting married can become strong weapons to fight homophobia in times to come.