Acceptance

I was in school when I heard first about homosexuality, I did not believe it. I thought it was a new fad to our gen X. It was just a good joke.

As time passed by, a lot of people including friends and acquaintances accepted that there orientation was different from what was considered "normal". I thought they were just being brainwashed by a new fad. When asked to speak, I said, "Don't be silly. It can't be." Obviously I wasn't the right person for a heart to heart for this issue.

It was not discussed further. The reason me and many other people didn't believe in it was because it had never come up before and it was not something "normal" or even a hush hush word like sex. It was new. There was no problem in acceptance, the problem here was belief. It was a new concept.

But after many forced discussions, articles, TV shows I realized it was not a new concept that was catching everyone's attention. It was something that was always there. People all over the world, every caste, creed, religion and class had individuals who had different orientations. What opened my eyes even more was that it was more prevalent in the villages of India. I saw a documentary somewhere which featured these women who felt this way but had no idea why they felt this way. It never was a norm and hence it never came out.

Till just a few years back, it came to a level when calling someone a gay or a lesbian was quite a joke. It was a good joke and sometimes it even came in the same category of an abuse. :-)

Today its all over the place. Its still not considered normal in every sector of our society and our country. But then, its more relaxed. It has become reality and is no more a fad.

There are too many things done behind the closet and when they finally spring out, its hard they get any acceptance. Too much of hoo haa starts around the whole matter. The society, the media, the politicians, the varied opinions and perspectives that no one asked for are given. It becomes harder for people then who were brave enough to accept.

Its a funny place. First a taboo, then a fad then finally normal. Why these phases?

1 Comment:

  1. dev said...
    probably normal for us but far from acceptance in Indian society. I think its even illegal to be gay in India? Google India CEO is being asked by the cops to take down a lesbian community on orkut cause its illegal (or maybe the word is inappropriate). the challenge is that the group members are living in britain and hence out of indian jurisdiction? the legal and governance implications of social media is very interesting. social change is coming about in India. Like russel peters says, the Indian mentality is still "Indian men cannot be of the gay". a long way to go but in the right direction towards maybe tolerance and then acceptance...

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