Before starting to discuss the problems faced by the LGBTQ community, it is essential to first understand its background. If we look at the chain, we find the term “homosexual” as the pioneer, but it was soon replaced with the word “gay” in the 1950s because “homosexual “ was believed to have negative connotations. By the 1960s, with the promotion by Lars Ullerstam, this community was referred to as a sexual minority. Then, as time progressed and people became more aware, the phrase “gay and lesbian” became a lot more common. Slowly and steadily, bisexuals and transgenders wanted their share of recognition as a part of the larger sexual minority/community. The LGBT is an acronym that stands for “Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans”. This initialism, which is being used since 1988, stands to replace the term “gay” since many activists of that century believed that “LGBT” could represent more accurately the people their movement was trying to refer to. Though the LGBT community has seen abundant disputes concerning the social inclusion of the various members we have come a long way since then and now the term LGBT has been a term of positive image and inclusion.
If we glance at the present situation of the community we find the LGBT “minority” progressing. The social media platform, Facebook, widened its alternatives of genders upon constant lobbying from activists and the general public to eliminate the discrimination. Furthermore, even though some older members of the society disregard the term “queer” since for them it is a “disparaging term” that provokes hate speech, United Nations World Health Organization accepts and embraces “queer” as part of a description. Not only this, the GLAADS’s Media Reference guide declared the LGBTQ as the most liked initialism among young adults. All of this is proof that, slowly, the world is accepting the LGBT community as its own.
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The spreading of awareness plays an important role in this social inclusion. There are some countries that are gradually advancing towards the acceptance of this initialism while on the other hand, many remain in opposition. Looking at the world map, we find about 25 developing or fully developed countries that lawfully accept same-sex marriage as of 2018. A country protecting the rights and embracing the trans community is Belgium. The capital town of Brussels, Belgium comes with one of the most thriving gay communities and is an epitome of openness. More examples of social inclusion of the community by a nation are the small island of Malta and the Philippines as they set golden standards in this scenario and provide certain tax policies in favor of the sexual minority or to whoever is directly related to this initialism.
However, if we look at the other perspective, there are about 74 countries where being involved in same-sex marriages is a federal offense. 13 of these countries are the states that impose Islamic Shariah, and hence tying bonds with the same sex in countries like Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc is punishable by death, according to the law. 17 countries like Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, Jordan, and Kuwait have bans in place to prevent the spreading of “LGBT Propaganda”. Shockingly, facts and statistics show that there are almost 40 such nations in the world that contain a “gay panic” clause in their legislation that allows the guilty of murder or assault on the basis of their victim being gay, lesbian, or bisexual. This results in a majority of consequences. Since this community isn’t socially accepted, members tend to believe that anonymous internet discussions about the matter or “hookups” don’t count and thus an increase in such online activity is seen in secret groups. Apart from this, the members aren’t the only ones that suffer. Their adopted and powerless children are thought of as a “stain” on the pure society as well. Some fight their way up the ladder despite the hate and succeed in life while this might not be the case for others. According to the World Health Organization, a lot of split personality disorder cases are of children that have homosexual parents. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders tend to succeed in their profession since most of them are assured that they won't be judged or shamed for who they are, hence they tend to use their energies towards work rather unlike the people who fail to succeed because they are mostly busy in using their energy to act something they aren’t and hide from the judgemental people and the torturers.
In 1972, George Isadora Duncan and Roger Jones were thrown into a river by law enforcement officials because both of them belonged to the LGBT community, leading to Duncan’s death. Jones, however, survived but refused to name his attackers out of concern for his life. Another incident took place, whereby a young adult killed himself because of the constant bullying by his colleagues. Reports also suggest that he was once hospitalized when somebody used a fence as a weapon to hit him in the jaw due to his “out of the ordinary” sexual preference. News reports of 1989 also suggest that David McMahon was attacked in Bondi and he heard his attackers say that the reason was his affiliation with the LGBT community.
LGBT rights in Asian nations are well thought- about taboo. The Asian National Legal Code of 1860 punishes anal intercourse with fines and doable sentences. This code impacts the LGBT community's right specially the Pakistanis’ in various ways beneath the color of protective public morality and order, since in Pakistan same-sex marriages and sexual acts are punishable by death too. This is the reason that even in large and well-developed cities like Karachi and Islamabad, members of the LGBT community need to be discreet regarding their sexual orientation. Even though, sexual acts between the same gender are legal offenses, acts of homoeroticism don’t seem to be uniformly prosecuted within the country.
For me, the members of the LGBT community are the same as other Homo Sapiens. According to me, they need each and every right to behave normally and progress as others do. It’s surprising how society can act towards the ones that don’t follow their set standards and social norms. Society, without a thought, refers to the LGBT community as abnormal but I believe that just because the majority of people have a certain type of sexual orientation or a way of living does not mean that it is set in stone and is the only right way to live. Moreover, I feel saddened by the fact that a large majority of people are forced to mask their feelings.
I do believe there are certain ways that we can all help the world the LGBT community. Spreading awareness using various mediums can play an important role. Using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to raise pro-LGBT slogans can help reach out to the people. Signing petitions and making Youtube videos and documentaries on the struggles of such people is another way of making the world realize the terror that they are instilling in the LGBT community, so much so that they have to hide their real selves from the world. Simple logical discussions and debates might also help convince people to accept the LGBT community.
In conclusion, I think that the LGBT community needs to continue to fight for their rights till society accepts them and the fact that sexual diversity can exist whether or not they support it or don’t. Moreover, it is high time the world broadens the horizons of their mind and learn to forget the ancient norms and helps the LGBT community to get equal rights so that this “sexual minority” can flourish as well and its members can have a chance to live their life to the fullest.
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