City Lights

LGBTQ: How Different Are They?





LGBTQ: How Different Are They?

A little staggered initially, I overcame my preliminary surprise with amazement as I listened to the detailed imagination of my daughter’s friend, when he described how he wanted to dress up and look beautiful in a flowing elaborate skirt, with junk jewellery and coloured hair while feeling like a queen.

He is probably, the most creative teenager I have ever come across. A budding poet, he is filled with determination to implement his ideas into action. I was further surprised (although pleasantly) when he mentioned that he feels more feminine about himself and can empathise with men and women as he can effectively relate to both the sexes. As he puts it, he knew he was different and felt differently about himself. Intrigued by is inclinations, we started talking at length about the mostly avoided topic on sexuality and one’s identity.

These days most parents have their worst fear of discovering their child’s uncommon sexuality. As we talked about many things and he enlightened me with the younger generation’s idea about LGBTQ, he also expressed his fears of facing his parents with his identity/his problems in discovering his own identity. While I am not advocating for or against this population, I was curious to know how they are perceived and what can be done to promote the well-being of a population that is categorised and considered different from the rest. When there is discrimination or deviation from the society’s approved standard of normal, there is a possibility of psychological distress for lack of acceptance or fear of being called names.

While talking about different sexual orientation and gender identity, we come across the term LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer), but spare little thought about how to treat the LGBTQ population with dignity. We generally ignore the importance of ensuring that their mental health is not affected due to our ignorance and insensitivity. It should be a major concern for the society. Talking about it will not only help in removing the stigma attached to it, but embracing the differences and accepting LGBTQ people with their self-determined identity will help in giving them the assurance that they and their issues are understood. This will go a long way in creating a happy world for them.

With more celebrities and public figures coming out of the closet and openly embracing their identity has given the courage to youngsters to,at least, talk about it openly and express their opinions on such issues. But how big or how small are these closets?

At the outset, let us try to understand how sexual orientation and gender diversity is defined by APA (American Psychological Association). At the heart of gender identity issues is the lack of proper understanding of related terms. The APA Dictionary of Psychology defines Cisgender, as an adjective, having or relating to a gender identity that corresponds to the culturally determined gender roles for one’s birth sex (i.e., the biological sex one was born with). A cisgender man or cisgender woman (also called cisgendered) is thus one whose internal gender identity matches, and presents itself in accordance with, the externally determined cultural expectations of the behaviour and roles considered appropriate for one’s sex as male or female.  Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviours that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex. Behaviour that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as gender-normative; behaviours that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute gender non-conformity.

Gender Identity is one’s selfidentification as male or female. Although the dominant approach in psychology, for many years, had been to regard gender identity as residing in individuals, the important influence of societal structures, cultural expectations, and personal interactions in its development cannot be denied.

Sexual orientation refers to a component of identity that includes a person’s sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behaviour and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction. A person may be attracted to men, women, both, neither, or to people who are genderqueer, androgynous, or have other gender identities. Individuals may identify themselves as lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or asexual, among others.

Transgender is an umbrella term that incorporates differences in gender identity wherein one’s assigned biological sex doesn’t match their felt identity. This term includes persons who do not feel they fit into a dichotomous sex structure through which they are identified as male or female. Individuals in this category may feel as if they are in the wrong gender, but this perception may or may not correlate with a desire for surgical or hormonal reassignment (Meier & Labuski, 2013).

It is a common misconception that gender identity and expression are only linked to sexual or romantic attraction. Traditional gender roles are actually a social construct not based on biology of the person involved. Gender role is defined by the society and is largely interpreted by the society only. But some transgender people experience gender dysphoria, discomfort or distress related to incongruence between a person’s gender identity, sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and/or primary and secondary sex characteristics (Knudson, DeCuypere, & Bockting, 2010).

As the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM?5) explains it as a diagnosis, characterised by “a marked incongruence between” a person’s gender assigned at birth and gender identity (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 453), Dysphoria can sometimes lead to depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. It can be treated by allowing the affected people to socially and medically go through transition, though transitioning is not so easy. Several studies strongly suggest that experiences of discrimination and stigmatisation place LGBTQ people at higher risk for mental distress.

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine reviewed the studies on how one can know about one’s gender identity. They concluded that there is a biological link to a person’s gender identity, which further indicates that transgender people are essentially assigned genders at birth that don’t match their inherent, biologically set identity. For such individuals the problem lies in finding the right counselling services, proper hormone therapies if necessary, medical procedure if advised by specialists/professionals and more importantly the social support and social acceptance which will help them to freely express their identity and there will be less discrimination or healthy discrimination. However, there is evidence that there is focus on conversion therapy, despite the fact that it might involve some risk of self harm or might be unsuccessful.

When identities appear to be absolute, stable and predetermined they can be harmful for those who don’t conform to those identities. This particular concept of identity, nonconforming identity, produces a feeling of fundamental difference which has no place in the society’s perception of ‘normal’ and, in such situations, mental health of those with different identities is at risk. 

So, should young people be afraid of the way they feel about themselves if it is not in conformity? Or is there a way to accept them saying it’s okay to be different as long as they are not stepping on other’s toes and are socially valuable members with the normal ethos and elations to share with others? Are we ready, yet, to address the LGBT issues openly and respect those graceful individuals who are struggling hard to make a living by asking for money at the toll gates and red lights dressed gaudily? As one of the volunteers of a study puts it, as long as there are youth trying to figure out their sexuality and the future with non-heterosexuals is a remote possibility. We cannot say we have become an open society. As this generation, she claims, is okay with the LGBTQ and is ready to challenge the practices that the conventional system has taught. Is it the influence of media or western thoughts? No idea! But it made me wonder at their courage to challenge our age-old beliefs.

Author: Dr Nivedita Das

Read more from author