Azhar's Verdict, Hyderabad Panchayat, Resisting Stigma and Homophobia
Director: Jeevanandhan Rajendran
Duration: 00:08:39; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 357.721; Saturation: 0.121; Lightness: 0.751; Volume: 0.200; Words per Minute: 130.174
Summary: People’s Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. Here, Azhar shares his reflections on the deposers' testimonies. He speaks of the need to understand the queer lifestyle as natural; he repudiates the idea that homosexuals and transgender people are 'not natural'. Azhar stresses the need to re-examine social stereotypes about the queer community in order to build a more tolerant society.
Hyderabad
I am not here as an expert on this subject at all, but as a lay person. And I would like to present before you any expert opinions, but my rather observations, my fear and what I feel, the general apprehensions which are there amongst most of us. I have heard…, sorry, I will be speaking in English, if translation is required, different organization are trying for the translation. See, right from our childhood, we have trained to be either boys or girls, men or women. There is no third alternative given to people. Not at all. And I take that is the cracks of the issue. We are specialized in two. Being either this or that. Nothing else. And right from childhood, at least in my case I would say, may be it applies to all of us, we have this whole notion drilled into us about the so called homosexuals or people who are not defined to either this category or that category, that it is unnatural. Even in this same meeting hall today, I have heard that term used so many times – unnatural. And believe me, I believed that this is unnatural. The second thing which is drilled into us is that this is sinful. You look at all our religious literature. In most of our religions, in religious literature, this is also projected as something which is sinful. That also goes into us. And off late, there is also this whole thing of the health angle coming in. That fear also comes in that if you engaged into sex with the same sex, then the chances of you contracting HIV and other things are much more. These are the things with which we are groomed. Whether men or women, boys or girls.
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. Here, Azhar shares his reflections on the deposers' testimonies. He speaks of the need to understand the queer lifestyle as natural; he repudiates the idea that homosexuals and transgender people are 'not natural'. Azhar stresses the need to re-examine social stereotypes about the queer community in order to build a more tolerant society.
action plus
azhar
hijra
msm
muslim
natural
people's panchayats on resisting stigma and homophobia
stereotype
terrorism
verdict
Hyderabad, India
Hyderabad
It is only very very recently, just a few years back, I got an opportunity to understand and realize that there could be a few people, may be in minority, but doesn't matter, but certainly could be a few people who are born as boys but naturally they are disposed to things like girls, feel like girls and have preferences like girls. Similarly, there could be some women or girls, who are born as girls, but who have this natural disposition to feel like men or boys, to think like men or boys, to behave like men or boys and to have preferences like men or boys. And it is this which we are not able to understand, which we are not able to accept. That is why lot of my friends have mentioned about their experiences in terms of you know, the police behaving like this, the doctor behaving like this, the general society behaving like this, the family behaving like this. Its all because, all these people, whether it's a police, whether it's a doctor whoever, they come from same sociological background, the same socialization process which prevents us from thinking or accepting other than just boys and girls, men and women. And until and unless this issue is addressed and accepted as something which is not unnatural but something which is natural, we will not be able to deal with this issue. This is so far as general society is concerned.
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. Here, Azhar shares his reflections on the deposers' testimonies. He speaks of the need to understand the queer lifestyle as natural; he repudiates the idea that homosexuals and transgender people are 'not natural'. Azhar stresses the need to re-examine social stereotypes about the queer community in order to build a more tolerant society.
Now, when it also comes to people who have these, I would say, different preferences. I would not say right preferences or wrong preferences, but the different preferences. These different preferences not I would like to say at least way of some of them, I can operate. Also could put off other people. See, there were exception to use the term Eunuch and I think it is right. But at the same time, one must understand that in the minds of the general people, MSL is equated as nothing but that. Nothing beyond, nothing less, nothing more. That's the term which come, that's the idea which comes that is how. Like, for example, see, in business, you have got a small pan shop person and you have got Tata, Birla, Ambani and now Satyam also, the whole range. But you don't call them all together, you don't look at them all together. You make the distinction between petty business, between trading, between commerce, between comprets, all these things. You make a distinction. Whereas with, you know, in this, for example, even in the NGOs you don't make a difference. All NGOs are clubbed together as one. And unfortunately, with this also, sexual preferences also, general people don't have the time, don't have the inclination, don't have the patience, to have the distinction. They all tend to be clubbed together. And that is also part of the problem. Till you can not only make the distinction and you can communicate the distinctions, so that people can understand, these problems are going to come to you.
Hyderabad
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. Here, Azhar shares his reflections on the deposers' testimonies. He speaks of the need to understand the queer lifestyle as natural; he repudiates the idea that homosexuals and transgender people are 'not natural'. Azhar stresses the need to re-examine social stereotypes about the queer community in order to build a more tolerant society.
It is nothing but the problem what you might to say, stereotyping. Terrorism, sorry, I am getting to that subject, muslims, so all muslims are terrorists. So, all muslims have to be aboard, all muslims have to be suspected. Same way here also. If one or two people who are having different preferences, act in a different manner, act aggressively, do certain things which are not really acceptable, everybody else is put in that category, which adds to the problem, not subtract from it. So, I think, while society has to be educated and taught to understand that what is happening here, this phenomena, its not unnatural, but it is natural. Its part of nature. And it is not started just recently. Only thing is, unfortunately, we are accepting this recently. But I think, this have been there since advent of life, right from the beginning. Any history you go to, any society you go, this is there. In some society it is accepted, spoken about, in some society it is not. Fortunately in the world today, we are accepting it a lot more and talking about it a lot more than we ever did ever in the history. So, this is one thing that getting society to accept it as it is that it is something natural and not unnatural. And on the other hand, getting the people who are from the different preferences to also act in a manner which we will not put up the society at all but which we will make society sympathetic to them, not antagonist to them. These 2 things are done, only then I could think there is some solution to this problem, otherwise it will always remain an enigma, it will always remain a threat and there would be antagonism between the people who so called have the natural, general preferences and those who have different preference. Thank you, thank you very much and my apology that…
Hyderabad
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. Here, Azhar shares his reflections on the deposers' testimonies. He speaks of the need to understand the queer lifestyle as natural; he repudiates the idea that homosexuals and transgender people are 'not natural'. Azhar stresses the need to re-examine social stereotypes about the queer community in order to build a more tolerant society.
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