Can't Think Straight

Imagine that you have a secret. It’s deep, it’s dark, you think it’s shameful, and you can’t talk about it to anyone, you can’t escape it, and it makes you feel trapped and helpless. Not being able to come out with it is slowly killing you inside. No, I’m not talking about your addiction to Koffee With Karan. This is what most of the people of the LGBT community are made to feel about their sexual orientation.

Now it’s all good and fine to proclaim that you are supportive of gay rights and you have ‘nothing against them’, but what when your own son or your daughter tells you that he or she is gay? Will you tell them to ‘snap out of it’ and think ‘normally’? Will you be happy that your daughter has found the perfect ‘woman’? Will you remember that it’s never, ever about making a choice? Will you bear in mind that she has been born that way?

At this point, I can go on a whiny rant about the unfairness of Section 377, but I think (and I’m sure you will agree) that we have covered quite enough of that. Apparently, despite being in our 67^th year of independence, we are so enamoured by the British, we must obey a dusty, irrelevant law they wrote, word for word, because that is how it is done, people. Just ask the Supreme Court.

I think Imran Khan got it right when he said that your sexual orientation is controlled by a switch at the back of your neck.

On: Yay, I’m gay!

Off: Hey dude, Sunny Leone looks smoking in Ragini MMS 2, huh? Hurr-hurr-hurr-hurr *beast-like laughter and backslapping sounds*

Ah, technology. We’ve come so far.

And there’s this very cool word doing the rounds nowadays. What’s it called? Oh right. Homophobia. Wikipedia says that it means, and I quote,

‘Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). It can be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, or hatred, may be based on irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs.’

Oh you’re homophobic? Don’t read Shakespeare. He was gay. No, put down that coffee! Didn’t you hear? Gay people have coffee too. You’re reading Harry Potter? But gay people enjoy that, you can’t read that! You’re using shampoo? Haw, but all gays use shampoo! That’s just not acceptable from you; you’re putting all homophobics to shame.

If you surf Facebook long enough, you’ll come across these long posts and comments that people have left about their opinions on homosexuality. Some of them are indeed heartening to see, but some have simply whipped out the Bible and quoted it from it, stating that homosexuality is as criminally evil and blasphemously against the order of nature as Yo Yo Honey Singh’s lyrics. Well, if it’s says so in the Old Testament, it must be true.

If we’re humans, why can’t we try and be a little more humane?  Being L or G or B or T is not a crime, being C (=corrupt), being I (=ignorant), being CM (=close minded) are. Let’s show a little love, because let’s face it, love is all that there is. 

Thank you for reading this. Ding-dong!