Because...I was born this way!

Lady Gaga’s hit single ‘Born this way’ encapsulates the basic right of every individual ‘Right to be yourself.’ Societal norms, pressures and oft repeated phrases like: ‘You are born a boy, behave like one’, ‘You are a girl, why then behave like a boy?’, ‘You’re gay! Stay away!’, ‘Trans-sexuality is a myth’ ‘I can cure homosexuality’ ‘You need therapy, you will feel normal again’, only underscore the fact that a straight jacket approach to life vis a vis sexual orientation is the root cause behind these distinctions.

Hence above-mentioned phrases can be heard through windows and keyholes of every household, school, university and office in India as well as world over every day.

The root of non-acceptance towards LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual) community lies in the concept of heteronormativity. A social jargon it might seem to many, the meaning of the term is quite simple.

Heteronormativity is an age-old phenomenon where anything beyond the restrictive gender roles of society is considered abnormal or unnatural. Only heterosexuality is considered ‘normal’. It implies that homosexuality, gender identities and expression outside the socially approved tags of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ are not considered normal or natural. The rigid set up, being facilitated by different cultures and religions, is still prevalent in society today.

This non-acceptance springs from labelling and tagging, a direct repercussion of heteronormativity.

We like to tag each other and use it as an opportunity to crack frivolous jokes or mock others. Bollywood has equally contributed to this phenomenon, where actors till date, project their masculinity through their dressing styles, dialogue and even character details. The outward projection of sexuality in the attempts to look ‘normal’ has further added to the difficulty of the resolution of this concept. We see actors vouching for their masculinity through their action sequences and in some movie productions, gays and lesbians are portrayed in very stereotypical way.

Heteronormativity rejects any appeal of expression beyond the ambit of gender binary. Many politicians, religious heads and people at position of authority confuse the concept of ‘gender’ with ‘sex’. You can be a born male, but that doesn’t restrict you to the gender expression of a boy. Religion dictates and so does politics that heteronormativity is an applied phenomenon and fluid gender identities and orientations are against the Indian culture. Ironically, the same Indian culture which is a beautiful culmination of diversity has ‘problems’ with individual identities of people.

The most important right any law can ever grant an individual is the ‘right to be yourself’ but in India, because of the multitude support towards heteronormativity, this right is denied to people.

To be yourself, you need to know who you are but again the political and social constructs do not even allow us to acquire the knowledge through our education system.

Traditions are a matter of choice, sexuality isn’t. Altering our personality to be called ‘normal,’ and conform to heteronormativity simply takes away the basic right of an individual: ‘to be Yourself.’ As Lady Gaga encapsulated this, “I’m beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track, baby I was born this way.’

Pratyush Dayal Misra Views of the writer are personal