Uncertainty of LGBTQ Status in Ever Changing Social Milieu-Shivangi Sharma, Amity University Concept Firstly, people around the world need to understand the basic di

Uncertainty of LGBTQ Status in Ever Changing Social Milieu

Firstly, people around the world need to understand the basic difference between biological sex and gender. Sex is something that is assigned to a person at birth and is a physiological phenomenon which is not necessarily responsible for the kind of the mind a person has. Meanwhile, Gender is social construct, where a person can have contradictory feelings related to his/her biological sex assigned at birth. Gender orientation can differ from set of traditional norms given by the society for a specific gender.

There are many legal developments for LGBTQ community around the world but unfortunately not many are in progressive direction. The current example could be Uganda where on 21st March 2023 Uganda’s Parliament has passed Anti-Gay legislation that possesses tough penalties for same-sex relationships and criminalised merely identifying as it is said to have threatened traditional values and corrupted youngsters of East African nation. More than 30 nations have already banned same sex relationships making it very hard for people with LGBTQ status to live a life with dignity. Only South Africa is an exception in Africa with it being LGBTQ friendly.

Moving on to Asia we see a varied pattern due to its diverse demography. When we observe Middle East or West Asia, their LGBTQ community are more exposed to restrictive environment for which the major reason is religious believes. They are more open to hostility legally and socially. Being Gay is punishable by death in 5 of the 18 countries that make up the region. Sexual act between same sex is illegal in 9 out of the 18 countries. Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE has death penalty for same sex sexual act. Since ancient times they have considered same sex intercourse as sinful. Some of the Hadith collections condemn homosexuality and transgender acts, prescribing death penalty for the same. In the recent times FIFA World cup 2022 was surrounded by controversy due to its stance on same sex relationships. LGBTQ fans were left in dilemma whether to go support their own country as they were conflicted due to the rules in the country regarding LGBTQ. Mostly Islamic countries bound their citizens and legally they don’t have any rights to contest for their freedom as they will most probably be a victim to death penalty.

On the other hand, in East Asia the governments have a very neutral outlook on the matter but socially the LGBTQ community faces a lot of ostracism. In China the activists have won at least putting ban on “conversion therapy”. But still, they experience harassment from the Chinese officials and also, they don’t enjoy equal rights. During the pandemic homophobia increased due to the homophobic bloggers getting more attention. Hence, the community activists have to be more aware.  Same thing happened in case of South Korea amid pandemic government’s contact tracing sent a text publicly about a person who went to a gay club making it a privacy concern as well as shocking media portrayal of how sexual orientation of a person is more important than the pandemic fuelled more anti- gay element in the society. Taiwan on the other hand can be seen as a ray of hope for the LGBTQ community in the region as it is the only country that allows same sex marriage. Same-sex marriage was given a legal status on 24 May 2019, following a constitutional ruling in May 2017. In other countries like Philippines, Thailand and other Southeast Asian Nations they are very much comfortable with LGBTQ community but not very much in terms of legality. There is a large chunk of community in there but they don’t enjoy protection or legal rights from government in their own country.

In South Asia on the other hand historically there were liberated views on the same. There are many instances in the literature and historical records where kings to commoners were involved in same-sex activity or had the carnal desires for the same-sex. India decriminalised Section 377 of Indian Penal Code on September 6th 2018, which was very discriminatory in nature. It was a colonial legacy left in law which was repealed by the government. Same-sex couples have all equal cohabitation rights. Still same sex marriage is not legal in India as it breaks the traditional code of marriage as an institution in India. Although, Nepal can be seen as a ray of hope in South Asian nations as it is the only country that has legalised same-sex marriage in very recent times on March 2023. It was a benchmark decision as it allowed the foreign marriage of same sex couple.

Russia has been neutral on LGBTQ rights as it has not given any legal protection to the people of the community but also has not banned sexual activity between same-sex couple. However, the war that has been going on for quite sometime between Russia and Ukraine has now left homophobes perplexed as to what actually is the idea of being a patriot as LGBTQ soldiers of Ukraine are fighting in the frontline of the war. This shows that there is always a silver lining even in a grave situation like a war. This has been an eye-opener for global community who has disregarded the contribution of the community just because of their sexual orientation. The Queer soldiers now dying on borders are the people who never got recognition before and were not included in the army.

Overall, only a few nations have given legal status to same sex marriage mostly are from America and Europe. Only about 30 nations have legalised same sex marriages which is not a very progressive number yet a hope for other countries to learn. LGBTQ community is minority still a chunk of population that cannot be ignored. Patriotism and humanity cannot be judged by someone’s sexual orientation. A person should have the right to exist freely. The UN also supports the LGBTQIA+ community by organising awareness programmes for staff and anti-bullying initiatives have also been implemented in many schools. Excluding a population is never an answer in such a globalised world. By making inclusive policies, people from all backgrounds and gender orientations will come forward to help uplift the global economy. It’s high time that the world leaders and people from all around the world understand and recognize the efforts of Queer community.  

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