LOVE AND LIVE PROUDLY!

By Misbah Ali

Just like the popsicles, we all come in different colors, shapes, backgrounds and that's what makes us so unique. Introducing yourself as a person belonging to the LGBTQ+ community is still a thing, maybe because of the reason that we live in a polarised world that assume you could be either left or right, with sexuality and gender there is not even a choice until you tell them otherwise, “Hi I identify myself as queer, Hey I am bisexual/gay/pansexual, etc..” Our society simply assumes that all of us are heterosexual. The very idea of missing out from the list of identification that people around us have built is terrifying.

We are amidst the Pride season. And every once in a while, a person from the LGBTQ+ community may come across another individual who questions the need for Pride in the first place. Most often, the point they make is that “there is no straight pride.”

Well, straight people don’t need a Pride! Want to know why?

When was the last time a person was denied housing or fired from the job solely because of the reason that they were straight? When was the last time a kid was kicked out of his parent's house just because they “came out as straight”? When was the last time a hate crime was committed against someone just because the attacker hated the fact that the victim was heterosexual? Never. Why?

Because every day is Straight Privilege Day.

You want to know why Pride is important. Well, Pride is important because someone tonight still believes that they’re better off DEAD than being GAY.

LGBTQ+ communities don’t have Pride just to “party.” It’s a movement to show the world that they exist and that they should be given equal rights and protection, everywhere. The LGBTQ+ communities in different countries where same-sex marriage is legal, carry the responsibility and burden to continue to fight and push forward the social movement for those people in their community who live in countries where they can be executed by their government for identifying as LGBTQ+.

Pride month takes place every year in June as a tribute to those who were involved in 1969's Stonewall uprising.

In the entire month, people belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community come together and celebrate their identity and their sexual choices by taking part in various parades, concerts, and marches.

These marches have always aimed at peace, non-violence, and fun. The only violence is of the caged mentality who call themselves ‘normal’, resulting in unnecessary destruction and loss.

It shouldn’t amaze you to know that as per the study based on various interviews with 4800 millennials from all around the world, the people of the LGBTQ+ community between 15 to 21 years of age are four times more likely to have felt depressed, harmed themselves and thought of killing themselves. Experts conclude that the major reasons behind it are bullying, abuse, and stigma that some experience as a result of their sexuality.

I conclude by saying that a lot of coming out has come as an acceptance but rarely without judgements. We need days without any judgement, we need days of acceptance.

This pride month, take responsibility that you will never discriminate on any basis. You will respect our diversity. You will respect our ethnicity. You will respect the LGBTQ identity. You will respect their struggles. You will respect their successes.

THE ABC’s OF LGBTQIA+

Lesbian: Woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women.

Gay: Man who is sexually or romantically attracted to other men.

Bisexual: Someone who is attracted to both men and women.

Pansexual: Someone who is attracted to people of all gender identities or someone who is attracted to a person's qualities regardless of their gender identity.

Asexual or 'Ace': Someone who experiences little to no sexual attraction.

Demisexual: Someone who generally does not experience sexual attraction unless they have formed a strong emotional, but not necessarily romantic, connection with someone.

Graysexual: Someone who occasionally experiences sexual attraction but usually does not; it covers a kind of gray space between asexuality and sexual identity.

Cisgender: Someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender: A wide-ranging term for people whose gender identity or gender expression differs from the biological sex they were assigned at birth.

Gender non conforming or G.N.C: One who expresses gender outside traditional norms associated with masculinity or femininity.

Nonbinary: A person who identifies as neither male nor female and sees themselves outside the gender binary.

Genderqueer: Another term often used to describe someone whose gender identity is outside the strict male/female binary. They may exhibit both traditionally masculine and feminine qualities or neither.

Gender fluid: A term used by people whose identity shifts or fluctuates. Sometimes these individuals may identify or express themselves as more masculine on some days, and more feminine on others.

Gender neutral: Someone who prefers not to be described by a specific gender, but prefers 'they' as a singular pronoun.

M.a.a.b / F.a.a.b / U.a.a.b: Male-assigned at birth/female assigned at birth/unassigned at birth.

Intersex: A term for someone born with biological sex characteristics that aren't traditionally associated with male or female bodies. Intersexuality does not refer to sexual orientation or gender.