Being a person who believes in the right to equality of opportunity, talking about the LGBTQIA+ rights becomes a priority. The first step to this journey is to begin by understanding this term signifies.
LGBTQIA+ is a broad coalition of groups that are diverse with respect to sexual orientation, gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
It stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and also include Aromantic, Pansexual, Non-binary, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Agender, Stud, Muxe, Heterosexism, Cisgender and LGBTQ2S+ALLY.
Knowing the meaning of these terms is of the topmost importance.
Lesbian- It usually refers to a woman who has romantic or sexual orientation towards women.
Gay- It refers to a man who is attracted to other men in a romantic or emotional sense. Not all gay men engage in same-gender sexual behaviour.
Bisexual- It refers to a person who experiences sexual, romantic, emotional or physical attraction towards people from more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, but the attraction is to the same degree.
Transgender- A person whose sense of personal identity does not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth or does not conform to gender stereotypes. The sexual orientation varies for transgenders.
Queer- It is a multifaceted word:
- Attraction to people of many genders.
- Don’t conform to cultural norms around gender and sexuality
- It is also a general term used for non-heterosexual people.
Intersex- It is an umbrella term used to describe the people born with any of the 30 different variation in sex chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones or genitals.
Asexual- It refers to a person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to others and/or lack of interest in sexual relationships and behaviour.
Knowing the meaning of these terms can be the first step to reduce the stigma related to this community.
Being different according to societal norms calls out for discrimination, intolerance and exclusion. Our society has this assumption about heterosexuality being the only type of sexuality in our world. This deeply embedded assumption creates troubles for the people who do not conform to it.
The lack of recognition has an affect on the capacity of LGBTQIA+ people to fully access and enjoy their rights as citizens or, we can even say, as humans. This makes them more vulnerable to the acts of violence both verbal and physical and harassment, just due to their sexual orientation.
Problems faced by people of LGBTQIA+ community include:
1. Marginalisation and social exclusion
Marginalisation comes in multiple forms such as racism, sexism, poverty or other factors alongside homophobia and transphobia. It is the exclusion from fulfilling and full social lives at individual, interpersonal and societal levels. People who are marginalised have relatively little control over their lives and the resources available to them.
This exclusion reduces their ability to have access to basic necessities of human life like education and health care. For the act of surviving many people tend to indulge in criminalised activities such as sex work, indulging in sex work makes them more vulnerable to AIDS.
2. Impact of family relations.
Coming out to your family takes courage for people of this community. The fear of not being accepted as they are and hearing things like it is your mistake or any of that sort makes them more vulnerable to bring out their real side even in front of their family. Their reactions matter to the person and it can decide a lot about their mental health as well. In a recent report, Family Acceptance Project (FAP) researchers identified more than 100 behaviours that families show when a child comes out. It is said that half of these behaviours are accepting and half rejecting. Families play a vital role in forming the mindset of people. They have a major impact on the mental health of a person. Being accepting towards their identity is the least that we can do for our family.
3. Problems of homophobia
There is no single definition for the term homophobia, as it covers a wide range of different viewpoints and attitudes. Homophobia is generally defined as hostility towards or fear of non heterosexual people, but can also refer to stigma arising from social ideologies about homosexuality. Factors that reinforce homophobia are moral, religious and political beliefs of people from the dominant group.
Homophobia manifests itself in different forms, for example homophobic jokes, physical attacks, discrimination in the workplace and negative media representation. For people who have been brought up to believe that homosexuality is wrong, the realisation that they might be gay can cause feelings of shame and self loathing, leading to low self-esteem. Suppressing homosexuality involves denying an important part of a person's identity, and can have a serious impact upon their life and relationships.
4. Harassment of LGBTQIA+ students at school
Being a teenager in the school where you don’t feel safe and you feel the need to try and fit in is a huge harassment in itself. Schools are meant to be safe spaces for children. Facing harassment from peers can lead to children not being able to perform well and their grades deteriorate. This in turn brings more stress from parents and increases the performance pressure of a child. This can have a strong impact on their mental health.
5. Psychological distress
LGBTQIA+ people face considerable levels of stigmatisation, discrimination and harassment in their daily lives. People who have the support of their family and friends with the right to necessary information are able to cope better.
Experiences that negatively impact their mental health include
*Hostility from or rejection by loved ones or religious groups
*Bullying at school, harassment by neighbours, danger of violence in public places
*Casual homophobic comments on everyday basis
*Prejudice/embarrassed response from professionals
*No protection against discrimination at work, housing, pensions, etc.
*Childhood sexual abuse
*Verbal harassment, greater fear of physical violence and discrimination.
Taking necessary steps to improve their mental health is extremely important at this point. Being a human but still not feeling accepted is one of the worst things that a person can experience. Suppressing their true feelings can make them even more vulnerable than they already are.
A few things that can be done on an individual basis to make them feel accepted can be:
1.Simply listen
They are already hearing a lot about what they are, and how that is their own problem to deal with. Adding these things when we know that this is natural is making them feel more vulnerable. Giving them a listening ear if you can, can be really helpful for a person who is facing problems related to their identity.
2. Just being there in front of them is not the key. Being truly supportive is when you behave that way behind their back as well. Knowing about the identity helps you do just that.
3. Making them aware that it is okay to seek help when needed can also be helpful.
Things that need to be broken on a larger level are:
1.Implementation of school and teacher training programmes.
This will help the teachers and schools to implement policies for integration of all the diversity that our society has to offer. Making strict harassment policies so that the people feel safe in a place which needs to be every child’s safe haven school.
2. Media has to play a responsible role.
Media has a major role to play, in this field. Being hostile towards this group increases the stigma around it. Creating unnecessary stigma is not what is supposed to be done. Sensitive way of handling should be opted.
3. Training needs to be conducted for health professionals.
Creating awareness and the necessary training needs to be done for the health professionals so that they are able to identify the tendencies of self harm, suicidal behaviour and depression.
Making necessary improvements for such a significant number of humans in our society has become the need of the hour. As we call ourselves a diverse country, let us all try to actually define the meaning of diversity in the society. Diversity is in all the facets of our society be it caste, creed, race or colour. Let us also include the diversity of sexuality and gender to make our society more inclusive.
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