Queer Hindi Cinema: A Study On Understanding Lgbt Identities.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer community also referred to as LGBTQQ is no stranger to oppression. “In 1600-1800, colonists discovered buggery (sex between men or between women) among Native Americans. In 1869, Dr. Karoly Benkert coined the term “homosexuality” to describe same-sex acts. In 1870-1910, homosexuals

Growing up as a Catholic, Puerto Rican gay boy in the 90s and early 2000s, I struggled to discover my queer identity as well as queer representation in the media I consumed. Being gay was something that was never discussed. If it was brought up, it was usually in hushed tones (I remember being introduced to my uncle 's close 'friend ' each holiday) or as something negative (I still remember the sting of being called a faggot in elementary school). This reflected exactly how homosexuality was portrayed in media at the time. Queer characters and homosexuality were at best portrayed in codified, 'blink-and-you 'll-miss it ' labels and affectations, or at worst, something to laugh at, pity or even hate. As someone who still regularly watches reads comics, watches Saturday morning cartoons and plays video games, it is so exciting to discover the lengths of progress that has been made in queer representation in all ages media. In this paper I hope to detail the highs and lows of LGBTQ representation in all ages media and highlight the impact of media representation.

The most favorite pass time of any Indian is watching a TV set or catching up the show of their desired interest in the local cinema hall. As people are investing a major chunk of their time in the reel world it is, but natural to affect their real world. But does it always happen that way? “Cinema has only been around for a 100 years; men have been treating women badly for much longer than that,” argues filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan. “So how can one blame cinema for what is going wrong in our country today?”

The development of gay identity emerged from men and women not being comfortable with the lives they were living. Traditional heterosexual roles caused both men and women to become unsatisfied with the way they were supposed to act. In a sense, they expressed heterosexual roles so that they won’t receive any backlash from the community they were a part of. The sexuality of someone was socially constructed, and that caused many people to have a difficult time coming out about which sex they prefer over the other. In Jeffrey Week’s “Sexuality in History”, Week discussed how sexuality is socially constructed as it gives aid in the development of one’s identity. Sexuality is something that people are able to express by the people they have something in common with. However, it is socially constructed since people labeled everything. “Indeed, I would go so far to say that sexuality only exists through its social forms and social organization” (Weeks 6). Sexuality was not based on the person, but how people will view their nonconformity in society.

Has a more visible LGBT movement created feeling of isolation among the other alternate sexualities and minority groups that fall under the broad umbrella? Gayatri Gopalakrishnan, reporting from the UNHRC examines an issue that was left largely undiscussed by the members of the committee.

The sexual identity and uncertainty not only in minorities but across the globe and the concerns related the mental stability, stress levels suicide rate, and human rights implicated in the United Nations and according to International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (2017) throughout the world. Although the cultural and social barriers do exist, the LGBT community as a whole does exhibit a certain unity for the protection and discrimination of its members.

Queer theory was developed by Judith Butler in her post-modern feminist text, “Gender Trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity” (Horitar, 2015). She discussed the role that gender and sexual orientation play in the way in which society uses the concepts in order to place individuals in a specific category on the basis on how they behave (Guantlett, 1998; Horitar, 2015). This theory examines the diverse ways in which current beliefs serves to reintegrate societal anticipations of gender identity, appearance and sexuality, it also offers a negotiation for the fragmentation of constructed gender categories (Horitar, 2015).

LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender. It is intended to highlight a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures. Historically, LGBT people have had to deal with being brutalised and misunderstood because of the misconception that being gay is different and deserves different treatment. However, there are efforts being made daily by the community in order to educate people and ease their fears. The purpose of the following analysis is to deconstruct how people who fought back while growing up realizing they are apart of community help shaped and/or will shape them to become strong roles for LGBT people around the world.

At first glance, the documentary Meet the Patels could easily be billed as a real-life My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Centered on Ravi Patel – a first generation Indian-American man – and his quest for love, it certainly displays all the trappings and inner workings of a riveting romantic comedy. However, beneath the exterior mesh of a typical boy-meets-girl frame story, as well as Ravi’s interactions within his branch of the Patel clan, one can also detect various allusions to the struggles of American homosexuality and gay marriage within the plot.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) community faces many inequalities and discrimination on a daily basis. The main purpose of this paper is to put myself and others in the shoes of the LGBTQ community, to be able to see how the rest of the world views them, and the discrimination they face. What makes this community different than the rest of us? Why must this community face bullying just because they want to live a life different from ours? These are just a few things I will be focusing on in this paper along with the history and background information about the LGBTQ community and the problems that they faced back in history. Another interest I will share is how history has changed itself; that is if it did change at all. I will also be focusing on the data and statistics of this community; I will share the positives and the negatives. Last but not least, I will then share some of the policies intact that will help the future of the LGBTQ community.

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community is among the subculture groups that are stigmatized by the U.S. society. They are deviant of the heterosexual norm. Society labels sexualities, which expressions of sexuality it values or stigmatizes. The meanings of sexuality change over time in different contexts, which reveals the sexuality as defined by the society. Sexuality is defined as “the ways we experience and express ourselves as sexual beings”. Sexuality is more than sexual behaviors, it encompasses socially constructed meanings of sex and gender, which includes the culturally specific norms, beliefs, traditions and taboos that are related to sex. For an instance sex between an adult and a child is considered a taboo in the U.S. If sexuality is socially constructed, so are sexual identities. What makes a man “gay” or “straight”? Is a straight guy who slept

Based on all of the films we watched, I have learned that issues that are still prevalent in our society, such as, gender roles, religion, and beauty standards are the ones that interest me the most. The reason I say that is because my favorite films to be screened this semester revolved around those issues. One thing that surprised me about the Indian culture is the struggles that come with interfaith marriages. Although all of these issues are still current, there seems to be a slow progress toward resolving them or accepting them.

The LGBTQ community is one the communities that has been fighting for their right till the present. The L from in the LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, the G for Gay, B for bisexual, T for transgender, and the Q for queers. The term gay is meant for males that are only attracted to other males. The lesbian term is meant for females that are only attracted to other females. The bisexual term is meant for male or female that are attracted to both males and females. A transgender person can also be gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. The term transgender includes a lot of others term; it is an umbrella term, therefore there is not one definition to really agree on (Bukhari, S., Mushtaq, H., & Aurangzaib, S. (2016), p.93). There are many more names or term that are included in the community. There are many communities in the United States that are accepting toward the LGBTQ community, and there are many communities that make it harder for the community to come out. LGBTQ community are more likely to be accepted in communities that are more comfortable to talk about sex and LGBTQ topic. The more it is talked about the more people have their own opinion, and think about what exactly is bad or good about the topic. The psychosocial and sociological aspects plays a role in how today’s society feels about the community, and how the community has been treated in the past till this day. For some people to be able to support the LGBTQ members, one has to try to see past their huge beliefs in gender

Homosextual people (someone who is attracted to the same gender as their own eg. gay or lesbian) have constantly faced discrimination by both the state and society. Through the movement to equality, more recent generations have strived to create an environment where homosexual people have more rights than they have had previously. Although globally homosexuality has become relatively accepted, there are still many ways in which discrimination and intolerance negatively impact gay and lesbian lives.

Social justice that is face among the LGBT is discrimination. Variations in family structures include single-parent families, step families, blended families, and intergenerational families. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual families experience a special risk of discrimination.A major problem gay people face is homophobia—an extreme and irrational fear of lesbian and gay people simply because they are lesbian and gay. LGB people are one of the primary groups at risk of discrimination and oppression (Kirst-Ashman, 2013).