Paper short abstract:

The paper delves into the issue focusing on the implied homophobia and micro-aggression extended to the LGBT community in India especially by the youth. It attempts to highlight the repugnance that people feel for the LGBTQ community. The paper uses qualitative analysis of empirical data. A total of 550 responses have been collected, assessed and discussed with age-groups ranging from 18 to 40

Paper long abstract:

Research Context: Out of 195 countries in the world, 133 have decriminalized homosexuality, but only 32 of them legally recognise same-sex marriages. India is one of the recent countries where homosexuality has been decriminalized. This too after a long, tedious legal struggle. Yet, same-sex marriages are still illegal, promulgating the social acceptance of the LGBTQIAA+ community while refraining from complete acceptance. India was the first colony where the British outlawed same-sex relations, the impact of which is still conspicuous. Interpreting homosexuality under the purview of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (1860) instilled in Indian minds that homosexuality is a sin, taboo and something demonic despite the rich history of cultural and social acknowledgement of sexual diversity.

There has been a long and messy history of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice that the LGBTQIAA+ community has been subjected to. The microaggression and implicit prejudice that members of the queer community face from day to day is unsavory and stark. It was in 1969 that the Stonewall Riot had a domino effect that has brought about the current legal stature to gay rights. Yet the public is far from accepting and displaying equality to the third gender or a different sexual identity. Despite legal enactments finding their places in the statutory history of the nation, the social inclusivity of people identifying themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, gender fluid, non-binary and many such non-limiting terminologies is still minimal.

Methodology: The current study was conducted through an online survey method, using Google Forms. The target population was the youth of India comprising college-going, aware, active and vocal people. The respondents were also contacted for a telephonic interview for followup questions to gather more insight and clarification into their attitudes around queerness. The hypothesis the authors were working on was that people belonging to Gen Z would be less susceptible to the age-old implicit prejudice that has been projected towards the queer community.

A total of 550 responses were recorded, The majority of respondents belong to the Gen-z population, but there is prominent feedback from below 18 and above 25-year-old respondents as well. The Google Form was circulated primarily among undergraduate and postgraduate students ranging between the age of 18 to 24 years. 8.2% of the respondents also belonged to the age group above 25 while 6.9% of respondents were below the age of 18 years. Data collection was done through snowball and convenience sampling methods. The questionnaire contained 30 questions, comprising multiple-choice answers.

Analysis & Discussion: The paper has used qualitative analysis to highlight how the members of the community are being accepted by the general public, as long as they are at an arms’ distance and behind closed doors. The research posed questions regarding awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community, openness to accept the diversity that the community brings with it and using tradition as a shield to negate the sheer existence of people identifying and supporting the community. One of the prudent questions this research raised was the awareness of the participants surrounding the choice of sexuality. The result does not only show that the young adults are primarily unaware that sexuality is not a mere dichotomy between natural and unnatural but also highlights that as long as the term ‘choice’ appears in a statement, the young masses would assume it to be an independent one rather than a forced one in their oblivious ignorance. Graphs and tables showing the ratio of awareness around the terms and tags circling the queer community, acceptance, openness, traditional values and their role in accepting queerness, and disparity of attitude to behavior are used to indicate the results. This research hopes to pave the path of larger ventures into the feigned support and prejudicial overcompensation that the queer community faces on a day-to-day basis.

Keywords: Queer community, LGBT, homophobia, microaggression, feigned support.