Disclaimer: there is no correct way to be queer. Unfortunately, people around the world are still stereotyped by their sexuality and forced into box, by straight and gay people, and often times in the most unexpected of places.
A Mumbai newspaper is under fire after inviting a group of LGBT people in for an interview, then sending them home because "they did not look gay enough for the shoot."
Twitter user Sukhnidh shared her harrowing experience:
Twitter had a lot to say about the incident:
\u201c@manishtanks @skhndh @bombaytimes @ashieshtalwar So dear @bombaytimes - there is no one way to be gay. Get with the times\u201d— microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe (@microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe) 1516846335
\u201c@skhndh thank you for calling them out and walking away. You have done more for the community by walking away than by being in that gayforsaken shoot. No one. NO ONE, should be given the right to tell us how to dress.\u201d— harish \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (he/she) (@harish \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (he/she)) 1516856314
\u201c@skhndh @bombaytimes Living in my western Bubble in Ireland I don't always think about what it's like for lgbt people in other parts of the world. I saw this because of Twitter moments. \nThank you for making this thread and making me aware of the challenges of the #lgbt Indian community.\u201d— Daith\u00ed (@Daith\u00ed) 1516904789
And one user explained how these stereotypes can manifest in the real world:
\u201c@manishtanks @skhndh @bombaytimes @ashieshtalwar Let me tell you a story (thread). When I came out to my mom at 17, I wasn\u2019t too sure I was gay. Neither was she. Popular media and public representation mirrored only one specific caricature, and both of us (in our own minds) thought I couldn\u2019t be gay\u201d— microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe (@microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe) 1516846335
\u201c@manishtanks @skhndh @bombaytimes @ashieshtalwar Coupled with the fact that while growing up I 1) barely ever saw any representation of queer individuals in media and 2) if I did, they were all the butt of all jokes, the tireless \u201comg that\u2019s a man in a dress\u201d tropes, led me to believe that I couldn\u2019t be queer. No sir not me\u201d— microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe (@microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe) 1516846335
\u201c@manishtanks @skhndh @bombaytimes @ashieshtalwar Hence, I went back in the closet, thinking since there is only one way to be gay I DEFINITELY cannot be gay. It was only about a year after that that I learnt and realized how ridiculous that notion was\u201d— microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe (@microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe) 1516846335
\u201c@manishtanks @skhndh @bombaytimes @ashieshtalwar Not only does asking for a specific caricature of what we queers look like present a skewed picture of our community to the world, but it also affects countless young people out there who are trying to understand their own lives\u201d— microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe (@microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe) 1516846335
\u201c@manishtanks @skhndh @bombaytimes @ashieshtalwar On that note let me also make it clear - ALL expressions of sexuality are valid and should be celebrated. If someone is effeminate, likes drag, then it\u2019s their bloody right to express it!\nCaricaturizing that to encash on set tropes and reinforce stereotypes is repugnant.\u201d— microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe (@microchipped Manish \ud83e\uddbe) 1516846335
Let's end this stereotype of what an LGBTQ person should look like, shall we?
Sapphic outlaw moviesNew Line Cinema; A24; Samuel Goldwyn Company
35 bisexual pop anthems we have on constant repeatYouTube.com/Binoy
Kirkam/Shutterstock
