Pride, not prejudice

THIS time next week, LGBTQ+ Pride month will be underway, celebrating a community as old as humanity. So why, despite being one of the oldest civilisations on earth, is the Asian diaspora still so prejudiced against the LGBTQ+ community?

The Indian subcontinent’s history is full of references to the LGBTQ+ community. The oldest example is the Kamasutra, which details intimacy between same-sex, transgender and polyamorous (multiplepartner) couples. The text is thought to have been written between 400BCE and 300CE, showing how LGBTQ+ relationships were normal early in the subcontinent’s history.

There’s also the Hijra community, who in pre-colonial times held important roles in court, national administration and religion. In the latter, they were highly sought-after for weddings and blessings.

With this history, it could be expected that the community is respected as an integral part of subcontinental society. But for the diaspora and subcontinent, this isn’t the case. Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation first appeared in 1861 with section 377 of the Indian penal code, which eventually criminalised both gay and transgender people. Discriminatory parts of the law have been largely repealed, but the damage persists.

Gay people from the subcontinent and diaspora still face discrimination, as LGBTQ+ organisation the Naz & Matt Foundation’s website shows. Matt Mahmood-Ogston founded it in 2014 after his fiancée Naz took his own life following family backlash against his sexuality. One British-Asian testimonial from Sabah describes a “whirlwind of pain, emotions and loss” after coming out.

“Two weeks prior to getting into contact with the Naz & Matt foundation, I was hospitalised and was not able to see past anything apart from not wanting to live any more,” said Samira, another contributor.

The Indian subcontinent and its diaspora are holding on to colonialera beliefs, 75 years on from independence. Shouldn’t the secondlargest nation by population in the world extend acceptance to all its people? This isn’t some new thing for the subcontinent, it’s integral to its history.