“Do they have an extra penis? Do they sell kids? Homosexuality is not natural!”
In 2018, Indian lawmakers revoked the controversial section 377 of the Indian Penal Code by decriminalizing homosexuality in the country. However, questions and common-sensical remarks about the non-heterosexual population in India, are still often guided by extreme homophobia, social taboo, and a lack of awareness about different sexual orientations. Despite clear-cut statements by the Indian Psychiatric Society that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, one could easily find homophobia lingering around everyday discourses, movies, and popular youtube videos in India.
It is important to note here that this rejection and denunciation of non-hetero sexualities are not limited to non-WEIRD (non-western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) countries like India. Social taboo, unacceptance, negative behaviour, discrimination, and public shaming are one of the potential reasons for hiding one’s sexuality in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) countries like the United States too. As a consequence, the exact population of LGBTQ+ is still unknown and there are substantial variations in the prevalence estimates of the LGBTQ+ population in India as well as the United States.
According to a recent LGBTQ+ Pride global online survey, out of a sample of 19,069 respondents across 27 countries, nearly three percent of respondents declared to be homosexual, gay, or lesbian, while four percent identified as bisexual. Additionally, one percent were pansexual or omnisexual. In India when asked: “what best describes your sexual orientation”, nearly 9 percent identified as bi-sexuals, 3 percent mentioned that they were only attracted to same-sex people, while 17 percent claimed that they were mostly attracted to the same sex. Whereas in the United States, nearly 5 percent identified as bi-sexuals, 5 percent said that they were only attracted to same-sex people, and 13 percent claimed that they were most attracted to same-sex.
Considering the increasing visibility of the LGBTQ+ population in recent years, education becomes one of the most prominent ways of creating awareness and sexual inclusivity among students from a young age. However, various media reports highlight the extreme and continuing bullying against non-traditional sexualities in the Indian education system. For instance, recently, a young boy from Delhi was continuously bullied and sexually exploited by some boys in his school just because of his effeminate behaviour. And despite his multiple complaints to the school faculty, no strict action was taken by the school management which eventually led him to commit suicide. Furthermore, a 2019 report by UNESCO suggests that 60 percent of LGBTQ+ students face bullying during middle or high school. 43 percent have been sexually assaulted and 33 percent dropout due to continuous bullying in Indian schools.
Stories of bullying, sexual violence, and the continuous trauma due to one’s sexuality are again not limited to only non-WEIRD countries. Extensive research suggests that students belonging to the LGBTQ+ population are at a much higher risk of violence than non-LGBTQ+ students in the U.S education system. The rampant bullying and violence against LGBTQ+ students across countries raise the question of whether schools are aware of the blind spots in terms of sexuality and student safety. Do our schools and education system provide enough training to the teachers and the students to accept and include a multiplicity of students from different sexual orientations?
Schooling is essential to how one views the world and where primary socialization takes place. The narratives of LGBTQ+ students facing harassment, not only by their peers but also by school authorities, tell how important it is to begin to envision what it would be like to have inclusive education. For this, it is important to take into account how gender and sexuality are taught in schools and to study how this impacts children from the LGBTQ+ community.
Research on social studies textbooks shows how the textbook writing staff consists of significantly fewer women than men, which invariably impacts the mention of male and female illustrations and names used in narratives in the textbook. For instance, the study shows that while talking about the Indian freedom struggle, most of the Indian social science textbooks do not illustrate the journey of female freedom fighters, highlighting how they are looked at as secondary rather than an equal part in shaping history. A study on the representation of gender in Indian textbooks points out how implicit notions are conveyed through the representation of gender in these books. The author put forth data on how men and women are represented through occupational status, symbolizing certain traits that reinforce stereotypes of men and women. The existence of such differences and their impact further highlight how patriarchal norms are reinforced through textbooks, in various forms such as illustrations among others. It has an impact on those who read these textbooks as it shapes implicitly how one understands gender roles and identities.
In India, public and private institutions are subject to the UGC Anti-Ragging Regulations (2009), which prohibit homosexual assault after the 12th standard. College-level courses follow the Saksham recommendations for gender workshops, but the school system currently is not governed by any rules that help protect students who are marginalized on the basis of their sexuality. On the other hand, although the U.S has adopted several state laws and anti-bullying policies by introducing LGBTQ-inclusive education, passing same-sex civil unions, and allowing transgender people to change their legal gender without any medical or state intervention. However, a report shows how most of these U.S policies and laws are unable to protect the LGBTQ+ student populations. LGBTQ+ students continue to remain prone to victimization, conversion therapies, dropout, poor academic performance, shame and sexual abuse in both WEIRD and non-WEIRD countries like India and U.S.
Considering the high rates of violence, homophobia, and inbuilt bias against sexual minorities in the education system it is high time to make our students as well as school management/teachers aware of gender pronouns and the need to respect different sexual minorities. An inclusive curriculum and more stories around sexual minorities during the teaching-learning process could be a starting point for making educational institutions more inclusive of sexual minorities.
Namrata Shokeen and Shivani Chunekar*
*Namrata Shokeen is Research Author at the Department of Sociology, Monk Prayogshala; Shivani Chunekar is Junior Research Assistant at the Department of Sociology, Monk Prayogshala.
