LGBTQ is still foreign in our mind

Interacting with information and internalising it are two completely different things. While the message of gender parity and equal opportunities to all has exceptionally settled in us and become a value that we preach universally, there are some aspects of emerging societal challenges still foreign to our grain much as we might want to feign awareness.

At face value, we all appear to be aware of the initials LGBTQ yet how much we appreciate the message behind those initials is still highly in doubt. You will agree that it will take a lot more sensitisation to normalise the reality that there is a practical possibility of gender variants different from the two main ones known to us – and, that a different person could be someone we know closely.

That we have to be open-minded enough to accept them unconditionally is something we haven’t quite given a thought to beyond the boardroom discussions where we earn allowances from donor funds.

Are we as a society ready to sit down and have a meeting with the school authorities when our child is that different one? To a large extent, no.

This is something that we would rather hear in other people’s scripts and in discussions on mainstream media and social media platforms but we are not prepared enough to own the weight of it at a personal level.

The word homosexual to us ranks on the same pedestal as death, something that we appreciate as a reality but would wish to associate with everyone else but us or our families.

For us, life must align with the status quo and our children must behave in a way that mirrors their gender-defined at birth – they are either male or female. We expect them to form heterosexual relationships and eventually, get married and have children.

Yes, we recognise all the gender variants that exist in the modern age but as a society, we only appreciate them making news from a distance and appearing on billboards in foreign nations.

Being sexually different is itself very confusing. That reality emerges at a time when the body experiences hormonal surges and physical modifications spell double tragedy for a young person who is a victim.

A community grounded on accepting such variation would come all out to inject some stability without fear of victimisation. Here at home, however, it is the parents that require mental therapy to accept their different child, if such unfortunate news emerges.

During the period that the parents are in denial, resentment builds between them and the child who happens to also be in desperate need of acceptance, especially from people closest to them.

Operating in such a void filled with confusion creates gaping holes of disconnect between the parents and the affected child, who in most cases, ends up running away from home in search of a sense of belonging.

Imagine the trauma of having to fumble with the confusion of identity amidst what feels like rejection from the people who are supposed to love you unquestioningly.

Just like our political parties that stand for nothing soundly ideological, we are a society with no grounded values on practically everything. We wobble back and forth on all issues both trivial and serious. We pretend to know everything but we spend no time understanding it deeply to decide whether we are convinced enough to buy it or not.

It is the euphoria of excitement that tags us along for as long as it is the newest trendy thing that makes one appear cool, knowledgeable, and rebellious.

We have not made up our minds whether we are ready to embrace varied sexual orientations or even if we as a society want to focus on improving family harmony.