Social Acceptance of LGBTQAI+ Community

 

I’d like to begin by elucidating about the LQBTQAI+ umbrella, although LGBT has become a widely accepted name for the non-heterosexual and non-cisgender communities, it still excludes a lot of people. "Not straight" doesn't necessarily mean LGBT. Adding the "QAI+" acknowledges not just queer/questioning and asexual people, but any other identity a person might have (the +). It's a wonderfully positive step forward for inclusion, as it serves to educate the public and counter the belief that heterosexuality is the norm to which everything else should be compared.

Now before I begin talking about acceptance, I would like to discuss the roots of homophobia. I feel it is pertinent since it defines why we need to talk about their acceptance, though we never have to talk about the acceptance of straight people. The very concept of homophobia stems from the fact that homophobic people believe that being straight is the “natural” way of life. They believe only in heterosexuality to be the “normal” way of life. It is very essential that we understand them, if we want to accept them and revolutionize the society, where everyone accepts them. As Atticus Finch had said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

 

Taking about some statistics, while certain European countries have acceptance rates of up to 94%, the US has an acceptance rate of 72% and India only a dismal 37%. But that is not the worst of it; countries like Nigeria have a 7% acceptance rate. These figures are astounding, astonishing and often make me question the very basic human morality. (Spring 2019 Global Attitudes Survey). Some of us are under a false notion that acceptance is increasing everywhere; Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Senegal, Tajikistan, and Somali are estimated to have the lowest level of acceptance from 2014 to 2017 and furthermore they are all decreasing their levels of acceptance. Not many people know that till 2014, there was not a single nationally representative sample to find out about LGBT acceptance in India.

Homophobic and discriminatory comments are definitely one of the biggest hindrances in societal inclusion of the whole LGBTQAI+ community; I’ve often heard many of them hiding under the pretext of “The Right to my Opinion” and using it as a get out of jail free card every time they want to pass homophobic comments or discriminate the community, the worst of all is that they expect not to be held culpable. The use of gay slur by celebrities, social media users and among most youth circles  is extremely offensive and needs to be discontinued urgently; if we ever want to actually accept the LGBTQAI+ community. Many people, especially youth, don’t realize that by using gay slur they are offending a very real and existent group of people.

The effect which this exclusion has is not only mental but also relates to several other health factors. The shame some of them are led to feel can cause many disorders such as stress and anxiety. Rates of stroke risk factors, such as smoking, are significantly higher in LGBTQAI+ community than in the rest of the population. The Institute of Medicine recently concluded that due to a low acceptance, the LGBTQAI+ youth are at elevated risk for poor mental and physical health compared with their heterosexual and cisgender peers.

Lastly, we need to change the common opinion that belonging to the LGBTQAI+ community is a “state of mind”, or that they have lost their path and they will come back soon. It is who they are, it is their identity and it is high time it is accepted by all.