How many times have you felt like saying something but end up saying the contrary just because you’re worried about what others might think? How periodically do you decide on accomplishing a particular thing, only to find yourself doing something else because of societal pressures and personal anxieties?
Listening to these predicaments one would suggest to you in a jiffy that no lifetime, no matter how successful, will be truly rewarding or happy if you cannot learn to love yourself and be yourself. Now, here lies the trap. What they don’t apprise you of is the fact that even being yourself is subject to certain terms and conditions.
Recently, European Union declared itself as an ‘LGBTQIA+ freedom zone’ in a symbolic resolution supported by 492 MEPs, opposed by 141 MEPs, and abstained by 46. It was passed in response to the local authorities in Poland which declared themselves as ‘LGBTQIA+ ideology-free zones.’ It is not only Poland where stark ostracisation of the LGBTQIA+ community exists. The same scenario is visible in other EU countries as well, such as in Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Greece. But the resolution focuses on Poland categorically, for, it has been at loggerheads with the EU for a long. It emphasizes the deteriorating situation in Hungary and also highlights the negative developments in other countries. The European Union sees itself as as one of the beacons of the LGBTQIA+ rights, yet 4 out of 27 states thereof do not legally recognize same-sex couples, whereas 7 states constitutionally ban same-sex marriages. This depicts the conflicting relationship between Europe and LGBTQIA+ rights.
EU has set a benchmark for nations around the world in terms of gender equality. The present scenario in India is hardly different keeping in mind the roving eyes that follow even after the decriminalization of Section 377. The law is still silent about the marriage rights of same-sex couples while even parenthood is counted out of the equation. The discrimination against the whole community has normalized in society. The toxicity of gender-ascribed roles has spread to the roots and has numbed the conscience of people. The wronged patriarchal masculinity has kicked close the eye of acceptance and has been blowing the conch shell of ‘either my way or the highway’ into the ears of young minds, who then grow up blind to the concept of social inclusion. This becomes an everyday order where we fail to take cognizance of the fact that we’re the ones keeping the LGBTQIA+ community bereft of this freedom.
The EU resolution declares that “LGBTQIA+ persons everywhere in the EU should enjoy the freedom to live and publicly show their sexual orientation and gender identity without fear of intolerance, discrimination or persecution and authorities at all levels of governance across the EU should protect and promote equality and the fundamental rights of all, including LGBTQIA+ persons”. The strategy for its implementation remains ambiguous because the past legislations like the Articles 10 and 13 of the Treaty of Functioning of the European Union were enacted by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999 with high hopes, but the prejudice lingers on even after two decades of its enactment. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed the resolution and tweeted “Being yourself is not an ideology. It's your identity, no one can ever take it away. The EU is your home. The EU is a #LGBTIQFreedomZone."
It’s high time now to do away with these notions of the superiority of the privileged and the suffocating terms and conditions and rather bolt towards a society where at least being yourself isn’t an arduous challenge.
Not anymore.
This article has been contributed by Ms. Simran Singh Rathi and has been edited by Team Abhayam.