#.

Sex: It is a biological term used to classify organisms on the basis

of their reproductive organs and functions. Humans are also
classified on this basis as a/an:
 MALE – A person bearing an X and Y chromosome pair in the cell
nuclei and generally having a penis, scrotum and testicles.
 FEMALE – A person bearing an X and X chromosome pair in the
cell nuclei and generally having a vagina, uterus and ovaries.
 INTERSEX-These people are born with any of the several
variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads,
sex hormones or genitals.
 TRANS-SEXUAL-A person who psychologically identifies with the
opposite sex and may seek to live as a member of this sex
especially by undergoing surgery and hormone therapy to
obtain the necessary physical appearance.

#.GENDER: It is a socially constructed characteristics of women and

men-such as norms, roles and relationship of or between the groups
of men and women. When individuals or groups do not “fit” the
established gender norms, they face stigma and other discriminatory
practices.
 BINARY GENDER-It is the classification of gender into two
distinct, opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and
feminine. It is a general type of classification.
It includes men, women and transgendered people (People who
identify as the opposite gender than what was assigned at
birth.)
  NON-BINARY GENDER-It includes all the genders that are not
exclusively masculine or feminine. It is also known as
‘Genderqueer’.
It includes people indentifying as having two or more genders
(being bigender, trigender or pangender); having no
gender(being agender); moving between genders(genderfluid)
and also the people who don’t place a name to their gender.

#.gender identity: It is one's personal experience of one's

own gender. This is who ‘YOU’ identify as or what ‘YOU’ feel you are.
(It has nothing to do with any other person.)
 CIS-GENDER- It denotes a person whose sense of gender
identity corresponds with their assigned sex.(They are not
normal, they are just common.)
 TRANS-GENDER- It denotes a person whose sense of gender
identity doesn’t correspond with their assigned sex.

#.sexual orientation: It is a person's sexual identity in relation

to the gender to which they are attracted to. You may identify as a
heterosexual (The person is attracted towards the opposite sex),
homosexual (The person is attracted towards the same sex),
bisexual (The person is attracted towards both males and females),
pansexual (The person is attracted towards people regardless of their
sex or gender identity) etc.

All these terms are independent of each other and there can’t be any
‘obvious’ assumptions about these definitions of a person. Only an
individual can define these for themselves and no one else. Just
because majority of people identify as one of the combination
(male/female, man/woman, cisgender and hetero) doesn’t mean its
normal or natural, it just means that they are more in number than
other possible combinations.

Lgbtq – community

LGBT or GLBT is an initial that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual,

and transgender.It may be used to refer to anyone who is non-
heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who
are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. To recognize this inclusion,
a popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer or
are questioning their sexual identity; LGBTQ has been recorded since
1996.
Lesbian: A lesbian is a female homosexual: a female who experiences
romantic love or sexual attraction to other females.

Gay: Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or

the trait of being homosexual. Gay is often used to describe
homosexual males but lesbians may also be referred to as gay.

Bisexual: Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or

sexual behaviour toward both males and females, or romantic or
sexual attraction to people of any sex or gender identity; this latter
aspect is sometimes termed pansexuality.

Transgender: Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose

gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex
they were assigned at birth.

QUEER:
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are
not heterosexual and/or not cisgender.
The term LGBTQ is not only used for these five categories rather it
includes other gender minorities too. Sometimes it’s also referred as
LGBTQ+.

Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual
behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual
orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional,
romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex.

Homosexuality is known to have existed for a long time, though the

attitude towards homosexuality has been different in different times
and cultures. The ancient paintings and carvings provide us the
evidence of the practice of homosexuality in those times.

In many writings and evidences, such relations are known to have

existed between an emperor or an upper class man and a slave or
freed young boys. In some regions, a man was known to be complete
only when he had relations with both man and woman. While in
some other cultures like in Ancient Greece, a saying claimed ‘Women
are for business, boys are for pleasure’. But later in time, many rulers
criminalized homosexual activities which is still valid in majority of
areas (in almost 76 countries).

There were writers who criticized homosexual relations. For ex: "The
world is chang'd I know not how, For men Kiss Men, not Women
now;...Of J. the First and Buckingham: He, true it is, his Wives
Embraces fled, To slabber his lov'd Ganimede ”An anonymous
writing on the relation of King James I and the Duke of Buckingham.

Whereas there were others who wrote in favor of homosexual

desires, like, Thomas Canon in his book wrote "Unnatural Desire is a
Contradiction in Terms; downright Nonsense. Desire is an amatory
Impulse of the inmost human Parts."

Even if few, but there are evidences of homosexuality in males but

fewer are the evidences of lesbianism.

Today
For a long time, homosexuality was considered as a mental disorder
and was counted as one. But in 1973, it was removed from Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder by the American
Psychiatric Association.
Today, homosexuality is accepted more than it ever was. But that
doesn’t mean that it’s enough. There are several organizations
fighting for the rights of homosexuals as well as for others with
different sexual orientations and gender identities. LGBTQ term is
used in general to refer to such organizations.

These organizations fight to provide basic human rights and social

acceptance to such relations and to legalize their marriages and
families. They fight to eradicate the discrimination based on gender
identities and sexual orientations.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Heterosexuals’ attitude towards lesbians and gay men:
Correlates and gender differences
-By Gregory M. Herek
This paper discusses the basis for differences among
heterosexuals in their reactions to gay people, with special
emphasis on the issue of gender differences. It revealed a
consistent tendency for heterosexual males to express more
hostile attitudes than heterosexual females, especially toward
gay men.

 America’s liberalization attitude towards homosexuality,1973

to 1998
-By Jeny Loftus

 The ILGA-RIWI 2016 Global Attitudes Survey on LGBTI people

in partnership with LOGO
ILGA embarked on the first steps in building a comprehensive
longitudinal mechanism – an ongoing survey - to gather and
assess public attitudes to particular SOGIESC (Sexual
Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, Sex
Characteristics)-related issues.
 OBJECTIVE

I. Do you know what homosexuality means?

II. Do you think it’s a choice to be a homosexual?
III. Do you think it can be cured by some medical or
psychological treatment?
IV. Do you think being around homosexuals increases the
possibility of you turning into a homosexual?
V. What do you think: is it normal/natural to be a
homosexual or not?
VI. Is it against our morality to be a homosexual?
VII. In India, homosexuality is a crime; do you think its right to
punish people for something they do willingly?
VIII. Do you think treating people differently because of their
sexual orientation is right? / Do you think they deserve
equal treatment?
IX. Love is a personal emotion or expression between any
two people, right? Do you think imposing our morals or
laws to ruin a personal relationship is right?
X. Do you think homosexual marriages should be legalized?
XI. What would you feel if someone of your acquaintance
comes out as a homosexual?
XII. Do you think he/she will have a normal life after their
coming out?
XIII. What do you think the society needs to do to make their
(homosexuals’) lives easier?
Conclusion
IS IT A CHOICE TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL?

Well, there are no evidences of homosexuality being inborn or innate

or it being genetic but there are no such evidences for
heterosexuality either. Sexual orientation, in general, is not inborn
but that doesn’t make it a choice. Attraction is something that’s not
under our control. You can’t control whom you are attracted to or
your sexual or romantic desire is out of your control. No one chooses
to be a heterosexual or homosexual or bisexual. It just happens and
you know.
IS HOMOSEXUALITY CURABLE?

First of all, homosexuality is not a disease or an illness. It’s not a

superficial feeling or an irrational thought rather it’s a very deep and
personal feeling or desire to be with someone. Second of all, will you
(if you’re a heterosexual) be able to have the same desires for
someone of your own sex as you have for opposite sex? Ask yourself,
if you can’t then they can’t as well. Many homosexuals are forced to
live like a heterosexual because of various (unwanted) norms, values,
morals and beliefs that restrict them to be who they are. So, since,
it’s not a disease so it’s not curable too.

WILL THE SHADOW OF HOMOSEXUALS MAKE YOU A

HOMOSEXUAL?

Will your love for chocolate ice-cream go away just by seeing

strawberry ice-cream? Okay, maybe that’s a stupid example but so is
this question. So, the answer is ‘NO’, no one can change your or
anyone else’s sexual orientation (assuming you are sure about it) just
by talking to you or by being with you or by any other means. It’s
purely yours to define and decide.
“I don’t know what people are scared of. Maybe they think their
children will be influenced by gay marriage, but I’ve got to tell
you, I was raised by two heterosexuals. Everywhere I looked -
heterosexuals. And they did not influence me. It’s time we love
people for who they are and let them love who they want.”

--ELLEN DeGeneres

IS HOMOSEXUALITY NATURAL?
As mentioned earlier, there’s no proof of homosexuality being inborn
yet but that doesn’t mean it’s unnatural. It’s not something exclusive
to humans rather over 1,500 animal species are known to practice
homosexuality. So, it’s not just a new phenomenon or a new practice
made up by people rather it occurs in nature. And if it’s unnatural
then it would be unnatural for animals too. But wait, who gave us the
right to decide what’s natural and what’s not. It can be your opinion
but saying your opinion is natural is a little over-confident on your
part.

IS HOMOSEXUALITY MORALLY RIGHT?

“MORALITY”- before using this word we must define it. Morality is

that line (of principles) which separates good and bad. Since this line
is not universal, i.e., morality differs when we go from one culture to
another or from one family to another and it varies even between
two individuals. So what might be morally right for me, may not be
right according to your morals. Like for a vegetarian, eating non-veg
would be immoral but for a non-vegetarian it’s okay to eat it. So,
judging based on your morals may not be right because in that way
every person is, in some way, immoral with respect to some other
person. But yeah, morality is a very common reason people give to
justify their opinions. People kill and torture others based on their
definitions of “morality”, not knowing that if everybody does the
same, then no one would survive. The first thing people should know
is that ‘morality’ is not fixed, its not universal, you are not bound to
follow any morals. Many people think that these are my family’s
morals or my religious morals and I must follow it. Well, NO, you’re
wrong, morals can be rebuilt and redefined by every single person
based on their own beliefs and values. And having your own
definition doesn’t give you the right to criticize someone else’s
morality or views. Be open, try to understand every perspective of an
issue and to understand, the first thing you need to do is to listen.
Listen to everyone’s opinion, tell your opinion, discuss about it and
then make your conclusions because accepting any moral or opinion
without questioning it, is the sole reason of many “immoral”
activities that happen today.

So, there can’t be an answer to this question. And if we want an

answer to this, we must universalize the line of morality and that is
why we have laws. Laws are the legal (universal) lines that distinguish
between what’s good and what’s not in a country. Even laws are
different in different countries and there are laws in every religion
too, which again makes it complicated but still laws are the best way
to decide what’s moral and what’s not in a general way. Laws can be
wrong too but they can always be modified as we modify ourselves.

SHOULD HOMOSEXUALITY BE A CRIME?

Many countries and religions criminalize homosexuality saying it’s

unnatural. I don’t think we are liable to define what’s natural, that’s
something nature can do on its own. And about the laws that
criminalize homosexuality in a country, well, they can be changed
when required and they always have been. There was a time when
‘Sati Pratha’ wasn’t illegal; when child marriage was legal. There was
a time when women didn’t have any legal rights. But look where we
are today. It all has changed, the laws have changed and so are we.
And today homosexuality is legal in over 23 countries. But it’s still a
crime in over 76 countries but hopefully one day homosexuals will
have the same rights as everyone else.

Coming to religious rules, many people criticize homosexuality by

saying that GOD won’t approve it. By the way, how do you know?
According to me, the concept of God was made to provide ‘HOPE’.
It’s an assurance that there is someone who will always listen to you,
will never complain and will make things right. It’s a way to provide
people a hope for a better tomorrow. But using the name of God to
prevent everything that’s out of your mind is wrong. We have
adapted to many changes even after it being against our religion
because somewhere we know that humanity is always bigger than a
religion and it always will be.
Crimes against homosexuals (lgbtq)
In the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the
number of crimes against LGBTQ. Such crimes are often called as
hate crimes. A hate crime or bias-motivated crime occurs when the
perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim.

Fifty-four percent of LGBT people say they are concerned about

being the victim of a hate crime (Harris Interactive 2006). Of those
polled, 20 percent of gay men and 27 percent of lesbians are
“extremely concerned.”(According to an online survey in America)
These crimes are not limited to small scale discrimination rather
these are as severe as teasing, ragging, harassment, bullying , and
even murder.

Many LGBT people commit suicide due to intense bullying and

mental torture. And there are often the cases of verbal and physical
abuses on LGBTQ people.

One of the most terrifying cases of violence against LGBT occurred in

2016 when a 29-year old terrorist attacked a gay night club, killing 49
people and wounding 50 others.

“The fact that humanity has to clarify that some lives matter,
should be a concern in itself.”
It’s not ‘GAY’ rights that we are fighting for, it’s ‘HUMAN’ rights.
Every individual born in this world has the right live and love. It’s a
basic human right to be able to live how so ever you want to unless
and until you are harming someone else.
It’s hard to understand what people are scared or concerned of. An
equal right for everyone doesn’t mean fewer rights for you. All you
have to do is accept people for who they are.

#. Stop categorizing people

We started classifying things to simplify things and to understand
them more accurately. But it has become an obsession now. We,
now, are so desperate to fit everything into separate boxes. We want
to label every single person, we want them to choose a box and then
we will discriminate based on their choice.

Why does someone need to be called a gay couple or a gay family?

We never say straight couple or straight family. May be we need to
accept the fact we can’t classify people based on their gender
identity or orientation. We need to digest the fact that it’s more than
our categories can define.

“Life is messy. Being human is messy. It’s not so

neat as our ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’ts’ would have
us believe. We lust, we crave, we hurt, we fear.”

It would be a much better place if we stop categorizing and judging

people on the basis of their gender or sexual orientation.

#. Social support

Social support is a very important for every human being (and for
other animals too). The very best way to decrease the suicide rates
and other crimes against LGBT is by supporting them and telling them
that you are always there for them. Many families disown their
members for being LGBT. This leads to the assumption that there’s
some fault in them because of which they are homosexuals. Due to
the fear of being disowned or rejected by their families, many don’t
come out as homosexuals and lead a life that is acceptable in the
society, which is something to really be concerned about because
living as someone you’re not increases the level of stress and anxiety
and also the chances of depression are undeniable. It’s high time that
we start accepting people and stop judging them.

“You don’t have to be gay to be a supporter. You just

have to be HUMAN.”
-Daniel Radcliffe

#. Sex education
In most of the countries, children are taught only about the existence
of two genders or sometimes also about the third gender but we
need to tell them about the different possible numbers of genders
and orientations. Majority of children in India don’t even know the
exact difference between gay, lesbian and transgender. They use
these words to insult or tease each other. They should be taught
about these.

#. Stop assuming
People should be educated about these concepts, so that, they
assuming someone’s gender or orientation on the basis of their
appearance or dressing or biological sex. We should try to eradicate
the obviousness of these assumptions and should make room for
new concepts.
Data collected by ilga –riwi survey (asia)

#. Being LGBTQ should be a crime?

Strongly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Disagree

Agree Agree Disagree
15 Asian 23.4 10.4 21.4 10.2 24.8
countries

#.Same sex desire is a western phenomenon?

Strongly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Disagree

Agree Agree Disagree

15 Asian 24.6 16.8 25 9.5 23.4

countries

#.What would you feel if your neighbor were gay or lesbian?

No concern Somewhat Very

uncomfortable uncomfortable
15 Asian 51.9 20.6 27.6
countries
 analysis

q. Being LGBT should be a crime?

Almost 33.8% people agree that being LGBT should be a crime,
and almost 35% people disagree to this. Almost 21.4% of people have
no opinion on this matter may because of the lack awareness about
the LGBT community and the about the problems they face.

Q. Same sex desire is a western phenomenon?

Almost 41.2% people think that homosexuality is a western
phenomenon which maybe because of the misconception that it is
some kind of a trend or choice provoked by the western culture. And
also because in many western countries, homosexuality has been
legalized and they are given equal rights.

Q. What would you feel if your neighbor is gay or lesbian?

It’s pretty impressive that almost 51% of people would not be
concerned about there neighbors being homosexual.its really good
that people have started accepting these people to some extend. I
hope they don’t have any problem even if their family member turns
out to be a homosexual.
reference