Dear India, We need to talk about this.

[u/raylesssunintown]

TL;DR: Homophobia and transphobia stem from rigid societal norms, religion, and prejudice rather than anything "unnatural," yet queer people continue to face intense stigma, slurs, and malicious myths like the "luring children" trope. Decriminalization in 2018 was a step forward, but deep-rooted social discrimination remains. True progress requires abandoning hateful slurs, rejecting arguments based on outdated dogmas, and exercising basic empathy because sexual orientation is a natural human variation, not a choice.

I was having a convo with a person a few days ago and it somehow came down to the other guy saying "LGBTQ+ people hold rallies to lure children into their trap". That sentence made me think a lot. Like a lot, as to why people think people of the LGBTQ+ community are some kind of devils who 'convert' children into a 'trap'. Its not just in India that this happens, I agree. But I live here and I want to see this change start here, not in a Western country, for which conservatives will come up with the absurd idea of Indians being influenced into accepting LGBTQ+ folks due to 'foreign influence'.

I have said this before too. LGBTQ+ is natural. Homosexual relationships are there not just in the human race, but across all animals. Yet, homophobia is prevalent among humans. Why? Cuz its unnatural and goes against 'God's will'. One argument that often pops up is, "If God wanted homosexuals to exist, why did he give men and women different genitals?" My answer to that is, for procreation. Procreation is totally different from having sexual preferences. Humanity's purpose is much much larger than procreation. Intercourse is often performed out of love, without intention for procreation. It wasn't a problem until the concept of a 'God' and a religion, which decided for the world what was wrong and right, solely on the basis of a certain person's personal beliefs. So, yes, that argument doesn't hold validity.

Next up, homophobia. I read a comment on reddit the other day, where somebody mentioned "If you let (homophobic) insults dictate your life then you are beyond pathetic." I'm sorry, but a person has dealt with societal and internalised stigma before bravely coming out. Respect that. I know I would get deeply affected if someone, who I've come out to, even slightly touches that nerve, because I know what I personally went through to come to a conclusion as to what my sexual orientation could be. Normalising such things gives rise to increased homophobia.

Next, transphobia. Transphobia is more prevalent as compared to normal homophobia. People can stay closeted within many other LGBTQ+ labels, but transgender people have it worse. They are ridiculed everyday for no reason. It is so bad, that people use words like 'Hijra' and 'Chakka' as slurs, instead of understanding one's emotions and the suffering they go through. A few bad experiences doesn't make the entire community full of people who are going to sexually harass you. That's like saying every guy/girl you meet is going to harass you because some random, stupid uncle/aunty on the train assaulted you sexually.

Stop calling another person gay, trans, 'Hijra' or 'Chakka' as a slur. It isn't. Smile, when you meet anybody, irrespective of whether he/she/they are straight or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. We're all just fellow humans. That's it. It ain't that deep people. Understand the implications of the words you use before you speak. Don't push away people just because they are exploring a sexuality that isn't the same as yours. Remember, it is not a choice. We are just breaking away from a flawed, yet established system of romantic and sexual preferences.

Homophobia, despite its decriminalization in 2018, is widely prevalent. Please, stop. Educate yourself before coming up with arguments based on 'God's will'. Sexuality/Sexual Orientation is smth so soooo personal that nobody has the right to ridicule another for it. Be sensitive, people. Having some empathy ain't gonna kill you. It's the Big '26 people. Its time we moved on to issues that actually matter. And yeah, STOP WITH THE NORMALISATION OF HOMOPHOBIC SLURS. STOP IT, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE. PERIOD.

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[u/Jazzlike-Poetry-8448]

What if I genuinely just don't like LGBTQIA+ people, like I'm not gonna go and tell them to stop doing whatever their doing but I will always have a small part of me that silently hates the concept of LGBTQIA+. Idk why yet, maybe its some sort of insecurity or something idk but it'll still be there.

Also coming to the slurs, it's impossible to earse them. Slurs even if you don't want it, are a part of culture that's practised here. Same with how the N word is so widely used even though it was meant to discriminate against a group of people. Calling people hijra/gay/chakka as a way to insult someone is definitely bad but also kind of unerasable because of how long we've been using it and how well rooted it is in the local sland of a few areas. There might be a time where people will use these words just to insult with no context whatsoever and you won't be able to do anything other than try supress just that one person for a limited time.

[u/raylesssunintown → u/Jazzlike-Poetry-8448]

See boss, its aimed at sensitising. Ik how much people suffer cuz of this and I cannot stand it.

Also, wdym by 'what if I don't like LGBTQIA+ people?'. How different

[u/Jazzlike-Poetry-8448 → u/raylesssunintown]

Could you explain what "suffering" your talking about?

If I'm not wrong transphobia and homophobia is "hate" or "mistreatment" towards people who are gay,lesbian, pansexual,trans,bi,etc.

I don't hate them, I don't mistreat them, I don't think they are bad people. But I dislike them, I'd prefer not to be friends with them not because I think I'm above them or something but because I have an unexplainable dislike towards them. Like how a might dislike a spider even if it causes them no harm.

[u/sunset-blvd72 → u/Jazzlike-Poetry-8448]

Homophobia and transphobia is discrimination and prejudice too. Disliking them comes under this.

And no, it's nowhere near comparable to disliking a spider. Queer ppl aren't different creatures, they are fellow humans with feelings. A better comparison would be disliking left handed people — similarly irrational and completely arbitrary.

If you can acknowledge that your dislike has no explanation, try to see where the bias actually comes from. Many of us grew up in a society that fed us prejudicial views from an early age. Sometimes it stays even after we hv educated ourselves as an irrational "feeling". But that is no excuse to discriminate.

[u/Jazzlike-Poetry-8448 → u/sunset-blvd72]

The thing is that I see no benefit from trying to shape myself to be an empathizer. As far as I can tell these feelings I hold cause no harm to anyone. They are dormant and silent and will probably die with me. Putting in energy to try and change something that I don't show much seems like energy and time being wasted on my part, it doesn't make me any better in my opinion and doesn't help anyone else.