Our LGBT+ Community suffers more from social insecurities, even more than our dilapidated Law
Our LGBT+ Community suffers more from social
insecurities, even more than our dilapidated Law
By Sayan Basak
It has only been a few decades since the global community has s
tarted acknowledging the existence of sexual minorities. Entrenched human preference for homogeneity reinforced by religious preaching forced us to be cynical about the mysteries of the human mind and prevented us from accepting the truth. Without a doubt, human rights of the marginalised took a back seat.
On
a global level, much has been discussed and debated to arrive at appropriate
policy decisions to alleviate the living conditions of members of the LGBT
community. Yogyakarta Principles played an important role in arriving
at a common minimum programme. Despite all these deliberations at a global
policy level, there has hardly been any significant socio-political momentum at
the grassroots level barring a few states that have announced official LGBT
policies. In this instance, the key question that we need to ask ourselves is whether
our society is ready to accept the broader philosophy of inclusive living by
open up its hearts to the LGBT community as its contributing members by
providing them opportunities to earn their livelihood. The clarion call applies
to all the scholars of law and philosophy, as it invokes the issues of human
rights abuse and malleability of human tolerance.
The
abuses committed by the state and private parties have allowed for the
germination of a culture that reeks of superiority complex or a feudal mentality,
originating from the deeper realms of human mind. There is an impending need to
repeal those laws that prosecute homosexuals for expressing themselves (Read –
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code). It is certain that legal reforms without
behavioural change are as empty as a cabinet without a developmental roadmap.
It
is relatively easy to repeal the discriminating laws than to bring down the
social tension between intolerant majoritarian attitudes and liberal thought
that promises space for every narrative. For this, it is important that we
enumerate the factors of discrimination, leading to the violation of all the
core human rights principle embodied in the Charter of the United Nations,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other Human Rights
Treaties. Centuries of dehumanising treatment of the LGBT population on grounds
of sexual orientation or gender identity has made oppressors loose whatever
little morality they had left in them. The law enforcement machinery should
discard their passive approach of following logic extended by anachronistic
laws, which portrays the LGBT+ community as misfits and unworthy of deserving
an equal place in the society. In this age of economic liberalisation when the
state has reduced its role to a mere facilitator and regulator in the sphere of
economic activities, it is surprising how interested they are to control the
socio-cultural lives of the average citizens. It is best manifested in the form
of criminalization of homosexuality justified as ‘reasonable’ on the grounds of
protection of public health or morals.
For
an anthropological viewpoint, the hostility towards the LGBT community can be
traced back to what I would call ‘the mirror hypothesis’. As social beings, we
live amidst insecurities, some self-made and some created as a control
mechanism by the society itself for us to fall in line. From the base of these
insecurities, subconsciously we all are desperately looking for a version of
ourselves in people around us. So much so that we forget to appreciate the
beauty of individuality. We yearn to convince ourselves that we fall into that
group which is most widely accepted, an established human behaviour pattern
known as confirmation bias. Hence, the intolerant amongst us would want to hide
their low self-esteem by aggressively challenging any alternative models of
behaviour and identity.
Somewhere,
it also reflects society’s intolerance to non-conformist ideas. Deep down the
very idea of peaceful co-existence of the LGBT community among other members of
the society represents a different worldview. Some might call it highly
idealistic or utopian, but it is an idea worth devoting our time and energy
into. The individual liberty of a civilisation is at its pinnacle when one can
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information
and ideas backed by state’s promise in letter and spirit.
The
next important question is to seek whether perpetrators of gender-based
violence are seen as criminals or agents of society-sanctioned moral policing.
The surge of homophobic and transphobic violence is driven by a desire to
punish those seen to be defying gender norms. It is also well known that many
of these attacks are organised and has a political angle to it, specifically
related to the growth of parties based on right wing ideology. What is more
disturbing than the perpetrators of violence, is the intellectual imperialism
over victims that programs individuals to identify themselves as outliers and
make them consider themselves deserving of beatings, torture, mutilation,
castration and sexual assault.
Hence, it is important for us to excogitate our belief
system we may have inherited from our narrow-minded ancestors and rise to
challenge the status quo to move forward towards a mindful evolution of our
thoughts based on a common consciousness and our ability to become a force for
good.
Sayan Basak
Associate
Director- Research and Publications- ProBono India
3rd Year, Bachelors of Technology, Department
of Polymer Science and Technology, University Of Calcutta
External References and links-
1. https://www.anxiety.org/lgbtq-anxiety-depression
3. https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-fear-of-being-gay
4. http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/
5. http://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/
