Six Color Rainbow Flag! : Nuzhat Shahzadi

June is the pride month in America. Pride month is celebrated around the globe. In addition to the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greenland, Hungary, and the United Kingdom also observe it.

The pride month honors the Stonewall uprising in New York City's Greenwich Village, (June) 1969, when LGBTQ communities clashed with the police fighting for their rights. It also represents LGBTQ-activism, recognizes the struggles and accomplishments of the LGBTQs for their rights and equal justice. As the years progressed, their activism extended to, and embraced people of color and gender fluid and non-conforming individuals.

The pride flag to symbolize gay pride was created by artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. He based the design on the rainbow: red (life); orange (healing); yellow (sunlight); green (nature); indigo (serenity); violet (spirit).

Often people are uncomfortable talking about LGBTQs––some are more vicious. They associate LGBTQ ism with necessary evil––against nature, anti-religion, misguided-trendy experimentation––something very wrong, abnormal. They blame peer-pressure––not a choice, and try to implement conversion therapies to transform an LGBTQ individual into a “normal person.”

These concepts are wrong, immoral, dangerous.

LGBTQ people are persecuted, oppressed, humiliated, and disowned by their families and loved ones in many instances. In some cultures, they are born to be shamed. Draconian attitudes and beliefs are tainting politics––the outcomes are enactment of laws cruel to the LGBTQ communities. It’s very true for America where the zealots belonging to the conservative republican party are at war with the LGBTQs’ rights and their very existence. In Iran, and most middle-eastern countries, they have to hide their sexual-identities or face a death sentence or imprisonment. Reaction in the South Asian region is somewhat mixed. However, the biggest democracy, India (as claimed), has failed to legalize same sex marriage (kindly refer to links below).

. . . I have a (white-American) friend whose father left her mom after 30 years of living a dual life.

“Finally, he came out––to mom. During his time, white Christian communities had no sympathy for deviants . . . my parents stayed married for many years . . . after 4 of us were born . . . and then he left us one day,” she said.

I headed an HIV/AIDS project while I worked with the Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs. The project gave me opportunities to work closely with the risk/vulnerable groups (LGBTQs) in addition to (female) commercial sex workers. Each person belonging to these groups had unique stories of pain, challenges and courage. One of the colleagues from a partnering HIV/AIDS focused NGO in Bangladesh was gay. Everyone pretended not to know about it as he hadn’t yet publicly come out. He was interesting, funny. I trained him, along with others on participatory communication training methods. He was our lead trainer with MSM (men having sex with men) groups. He further trained tertiary-level MSM leaders in the communities.

One of his MSM leaders failed to show up at an important meeting. Our project paid mobility/transport costs. As we waited, our gay-closeted-colleague updated me, frustrated with the delay.

“Apa, he has possibly found an opportunity to earn a little extra money on the side . . . taken a client . . .”

It was very possible. We worked with extreme-low-income groups––underprivileged, unappreciated and subjected to cruelty, disease, poverty and social exclusion. Some in our group had trouble suppressing laughter . . . I couldn’t laugh . . . I remembered what a (Bengalee) relative had told me some years ago.

“In school, we used to undress these hijras (transgenders) . . . ha! Ha! Ha! Freaks! It was such fun,” he was still very amused––a highly educated man in a lucrative job in the US (!). He maintained the same attitude towards the LGBTQs, through out.

Abuse, bullying in school, depression and suicide rates among LGBTQ teens in the US has been rising. So much change has happened but still there is no safe space for LGBTQs.

CNN on 18 June, 2024, reported:

Thailand will become the first nation in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage after the kingdom's Senate approved a marriage equality bill today, with supporters calling it a "monumental step forward for LGBTQ+ rights." Thailand's Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of passing the bill, with 130 lawmakers supporting the measure and four opposing it. The result of the vote means that Thailand will become only the third place in Asia to allow for marriage equality after Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 and Nepal in 2023. Meanwhile, in the US, six states blocked the Biden administration's new protections for LGBTQ+ students on Monday. The new rules require schools to protect students from all sex discrimination amid a recent spate of laws aimed at limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.

Kudos to Thailand! . . . things can change.

. . . I rejoined UNICEF, eventually. I kept connections with many of the partners I had worked with. I learned that our gay-closeted colleague was getting married ––family pressure, I was told. He was embracing a dual life to belong to his current universe.