WHY IS JUNE CELEBRATED AS PRIDE MONTH?

Everything you take pride in is something you connect to, emotionally. In the same way, the month of June is close to peoples’ hearts. They, mostly known as LGBTs celebrate this month as pride month.

And the ways to celebrate are as queer as they are. The happiness and joy not just spread around the four walls. even the streets take the form of a stripped rainbow and every soul feels pride in their identity. June as pride month targets the mentality of people about LGBT and Qs. The basic goal is to increase legal rights and acceptance for LGBT people.

Since 1969, the pride month celebration reminds majorities that there is a group of people who deserve equal right just like them. The Stonewall Parade of 28th June commemorates the Stonewall riots of June 1969.  The riots started getting intense around 1950s and 1960s when FBI was instructed to list the communist, anarchists, and homosexuals and arrest them on the spot.

Consequently, the FBI raided the Stonewall Inn to charge on all the homosexuals and Stonewall riots were the outcome.

Later in 1980s, the activists began to use the initialism LGBT in the United States. By 1999, the organizations started to adopt new names as the GLBT Historical Society did in the same year. But the most amazing response to years of pride month parade was something Facebook did in 2014. The giant of social networking services, Facebook, in February 2014 widened its choice of gender variants for users, that, later on, proved to be an impressive and effective action.

 

GENDER VARIANTS WHICH LEAD THE PRIDE MONTH PARADE.

The people of this group live as a minority in our society. Human beings who have no specific career options and no life at ease like heterosexuals. 

Now to make their own identity in this ignorant world they have initialized their group LGBT. However, many variants exist including variations that change the order of the letters; LGBT or GLBT are the most common terms. Although identical in meaning, LGBT may have a more feminist connotation than GLBT as it places ‘L’ for Lesbian first. 

You would also have noticed the letter “Q” at the end of initialism. Which additionally stands for ‘Queer’ of ‘Questioning‘. Sometimes Qs are represented as a question mark because they are anybody not literally (L, G, B or T).

Thus it got variants like LGBTQ or LGBTIQQ.

PRIDE MONTH FRIENDLY WORLD. 

According to Aristotle, although most belligerent nations were strongly influenced by their women, the cells were unusual because their men openly preferred male lovers (Politics II 1269b).

If we talk about the India, history goes a long way back. There are Hindu and Vedic texts, which we don’t bother to look into now. They have blatantly described saints, demigods, and even the Supremes, Lord transcending gender norms and manifesting multiple combinations of sex and gender. Considering the examples of hermaphrodite Shikhandi and Arjuna who became eunuch, historians have much to say.

In the same context historian, Ruth Vanita argues that ancient India was relatively tolerant and views on it were ambiguous, from acceptance to rejection.

That was the portrayal of homosexuality before pride month. But now the picture is not the same.

POSITION OF LGBTQ+ IN INDIA

Public opinion about LGBTQ+ community is complex in India. Over the past decade, LGBT people have gained more and more tolerance and acceptance in India, especially in large cities. Nonetheless, most LGBT people in India remain closeted, fearing discrimination from their families, who might see homosexuality as shameful. There are tons of homophobes existing and calling themselves “loyal citizens” of India, which is highly ironical. Homosexuality was never a criminal offence in traditional India but a “curse” from the Britishers during their rule in India, terming homosexuality as a criminal offence. 

But on 6 September, a five-member Bench of the Supreme Court striked down colonial era anti-gay law, decriminalized homosexuality by declaring Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code unconstitutional. Sexual activity between people of the same gender is now legal. Although same-sex couples are not legally recognized currently by any form, performing a symbolic same-sex marriage is not prohibited under Indian law either.

This was an iconic moment in the Indian Judicial history!

 

As Justice Indu Malhotra, one of the five judges who read out four concurrent verdicts on 6 September, said, society owes the LGBTQ+ community an apology for the historical wrongs perpetrated against it.

 

 

LAWS REGARDING SAME-SEX SEXUALITY BY COUNTRY OR TERRITORY.

 

 

In Asia, Taiwan is the only nation moving ahead in breaking the taboos. In May this year, it surprisingly legalized same-sex marriage and took the initiative.

Whereas, countries as such South Sudan has it illegal since 1899. In addition to that, imprisonment up to ten years is also in their Constitution since 2011. 

 

The countries like South Sudan are the examples that need to be abolished.Gay men and lesbians are human beings and they have the same needs and desires as heterosexuals. God or any superpower has got nothing to do with it. It should be up to individuals to decide if he or she wants to follow what their religion says or whether they choose to remain homosexuals. 

The world has to take pride in humanity, not in sex or gender. 

We need to set some amazing example as such of Taiwan not as of South Sudan. Only then June will completely be the pride month.