Decriminalising homosexuality is one of the best judgements by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, as per me. As a 32-yea- old married mother of one from the metropolitan city of Mumbai, I have had the freedom to express my thoughts, wear the clothes I want to, select the friends with whom my wave length (not my caste) matches, and have my own opinions. But this isn’t the case for everyone.
I came across the concept of ‘LGBTQ’ through a friend, when we were studying in Class XI. It was something new to me, and after only just learning that boys could like boys and girls could like girls, I forgot about the same. Subsequently, in degree college, the concept of ‘Gays and Lesbians’ were something that we used to talk about. But just when we wanted to make fun of somebody. Till then, I did not understand the seriousness of it all. Later on, as time passed, and I started reading about cases of suicide and depression, of people ended their lives because they could not ‘come out’ in the open, I understood the seriousness.
Thought I always felt that there is nothing wrong if two people prefer settling down in with each other, rather than surrendering themselves to society’s whims, I still could not understand why gender mattered. When I discussed the same with my friends, they always made fun of this topic. We never really bothered about how our ignorance could be taking someone’s life. We claim to be ‘progressive’ and ‘modern’, yet we are shy or reluctant or egotistical to accept people whose sexual orientation is harmless to us, people who just want to be accepted for who they are. Maybe we are so selfish and self-centred that we decided to impose our idea of love on the world.
I guess this judgment will help millions like me to show our support for the LGBTQ community. Tomorrow, as parents, we would not stop our children from coming out of the closet or accepting themselves or their friends as they are.
Just because a person has a different sexual orientation does not mean that person is lacking in any way. I am now looking forward to seeing more people from the Pride parades feel safe enough to come out openly, in public.
I see the people celebrating Pride, and I walk with them, working with them, without them feeling inferior or ashamed of being themselves.
I am looking forward to seeing more people of the transgender community being employed, and not having to resort to begging because they would be educated and qualified.
I am looking forward to a lot of happy marriages, wherein couples do not divorce, just because one person had to hide their sexual orientation.
I am looking forward to seeing people who are now happy, and will not choose the path of suicide.
And I am looking forward to a much better workforce, made of more productive people, because things will now be relaxed.
But, unfortunately, just the verdict is not enough. A law has to be made, enforcing all of the above. And we still have the biggest challenge: to convince our society to accept all people regardless of their orientation.