Heterosexuality is the societal norm in our culture. Now more and more people have been coming out about their sexuality. While this is still a foreign idea for many of us, those in LGBTIA community now has more freedom to express their sexuality via means of social media and more education. If you take a look, in our Keralite community, homosexuality is still gawked upon. Take a look at the western countries; they have accepted the fact that a male individual can have a boyfriend or a husband and a female individual can definitely have a girlfriend or a wife.
The sad reality of it is that, we think that Gen Z is more accepting of those in LGBTQ community, but it is only applicable if they are taught from childhood that love is not a one way street where it can only be between just a man and a woman. It is indeed refreshing that nowadays our younger generation is aware and capable of understanding this difference. Not all, but at least some.
Recently in Kerala, there was a huge uproar about a lesbian couple wanting to live together. The story of Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora. They were a couple who was together since their school days, who came out to their parents and suffered the most horrible forms of mental tortures that individuals can face just because of their sexuality. They were even subjected to “Conversion Therapy” by their parents to change their sexuality. Little did they know that this is not how sexuality works.
Funny enough, I had a gay friend, who was subjected to the conversion therapy and ended up finding a boyfriend from the therapy center.
The common outlook towards Adhila’s and Fathima’s issue was more like, “if they want to live together, let them. They are consenting adults.” However, there was also the other half that kept chiming that this is against nature. The nature is that is a man and a woman who should be together and not a man and a man or a woman and a woman. There is a long way for our society to understand that our sexuality is wired from within and most of us just doesn't act on it. It may take decades for our community to accept that sexuality is not just about Lesbians and gays. It involves the others in the BTQIA community as well. Imagine, it may be absurd to hear that a person can be interested in both men and women or none at all.
In western countries, LGBTQIA is somewhat normalised to a point that they are moving on. Now they raise concern about new branches of sexuality such as pansexuality, demisexuality, Graysexuality, etc. We have decades more to go before sensationalizing the news about a homosexual couple wanting to get married or live together. Let’s hope that someday our society will not raise their eyebrows when a woman says my wife and I or when a man says my husband and I are in love, for love should always win and will win.
Definitions:
Conversion Therapy: Attempting to change one's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to match that of heterosexual norms.
L-Lesbian | G-Gay | B-Bisexual | T-Transgender | Q-Queer | I-Intersex | A-Asexual