By Kunal Arora:
I have heard of people coming out of the closet and declaring to their families that they are not the one their family is expecting them to be. I am a part of a community where people are afraid to come out to their parents and tell them about their sexuality.
Humiliation, exploitation and torture; that’s what most of the homosexuals have seen in their life. Those who dare to come out and speak clearly are tortured and forced to keep the secret to themselves. For all those who say that they are open minded and ready to accept whatever comes their way, why does everything change when the person involved is their friend or their family member? Why it becomes so difficult for the family to accept the person whom they love so much. Was the love they used to show, fake? And all that matters is the family reputation only?
Sex has always been a taboo in India and now when people are opening up their minds towards discussing these topics, some new topics arose that are not digestible to Indians. Homosexuality has been a hot topic in other countries since past few decades and it was introduced in India just few years back when people saw cases of a guy in love with another guy coming up.
At first they were being ignored but slowly many people started taking about it, it became the finest topic to talk and discuss and homosexuals became the victims. The biggest role has been played by movie makers who have always showcased the image of homosexual guys as a feminine man. They are pictured as the humorous characters and disparaging remarks are made against them.
World Health Organization first mentioned Homosexuality as a disease in 1960’s but later on, after few decades they removed it from the list of the mental diseases. But in our country, it is still mentioned as a disease in Medical text books; this shows the backwardness of our education system. Many psychiatrics throughout the world examined people who came up with such likings but in the end concluded that Homosexuality is not an act, not a desire, it’s not an option that one can choose; it’s a natural tendency for a guy to fall in love with other guy. But in India, still the doctors are unable to accept it as nature’s play and are working to find the treatment for it.
Even the leaders of our nation have mentioned in their comments that Homosexuals have caused a sharp increase in number of AIDS cases in India. The place where even leaders don’t have much knowledge and make such remarks about people of a community, how can the community people feel safe. One can say that the nation is homophobic and takes pride in it.
The scriptures and the Holy books define we people as the sinners, who are against the path of love and will be there in hell after death. God never distinguished humans based on their sexual orientation. It is completely the interpretation of the humans. How can God at one point say that I love everyone and at other place say that I hate homosexuals? Both are contradicting.
There are many who disclosed their identity and were accepted by people and the society but only when they were quite influencial and successful. There are many living a dual life and waiting for the right time to come when they will be able to move freely without any distinction and fear of rejection by family and friends. Being hidden is almost being dead.
We have put various labels on ourselves and want everybody to have the same label and live according to the way we want. It is because of this discrimination that such a large community is hidden and facing the problems and traumas alone. The nation hasn’t done much for us and still there is a lot of conflict between thoughts. Many countries this year legalized same sex marriage because they understood the need of freedom to love and freedom to marry. Modernization in just technology will not improve the status of this country; we need to grow in every aspect and first of all take into consideration the welfare of the society and each and every member of the country. Only then, people will be able to contribute and help the nation in growing.
Many homosexuals are forced to marry a girl/guy and at the end what happens is that the family breaks up and there is depression among people. Acceptance is the way of preventing many problems to enter the bowl of life; dropping all cultural and religious barriers, accepting others who have a different approach towards life.