Come Out of The Closet

In this world, in this country, there is privilege, and there is marginalization. I see marginalized communities formed based on their place of origin. There isn’t a sense of black people being marginalized in Africa or yellow people in Asia. However, there is one community that, no matter where they are, will always be a minority: LGBTQ+ people. Paradoxically, unlike other marginalized communities, being gay can be hidden. “Sex is of the body while gender is of the mind” (Winter, 2010, p. 17). Winter (2010) explains that anyone can naturally possess any combination of sex, gender, and sexual orientation, and that gender is only a portion of the whole personality picture. Being gay often comes with confusion in self-identity. How one acts may not relate to how one looks. How we see ourselves may not be the same as how others perceive us. According to Tin et al. (2008) in the Dictionary of Homophobia, “closet is the term used to describe the social and psychological space in which gays and lesbians lock themselves up to hide their homosexuality” (p. 107). In real life, it is the personal space where we can hide stuffs such as wigs, high heels, chest binders, or even ourselves. LGBTQ+ individuals not only fight for social rights but some of us also struggle mentally to accept our own self-identity and deal with the pressure from those who think they are not normal.

Being gay isn’t specific acts but a state of mind. Like the song by Lady Gaga in 2011, Born This Way, people are just born this gay. There’s no such a specific record of who was the first LGBTQ+, but there are historical roots in how people perceived homosexuality in ancient times. Going back to when religions were hypothetically created, homosexual acts were considered sinful in major world religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. In contrast, Hinduism reveres the goddess Bahuchara Mata, particularly by the Hijra community, a traditional third gender in South Asia. Additionally, in Buddhism, the Atthakatha states that there are five types of gayness, and two of them cannot be ordained. Throughout history, several philosophers have discussed homosexuality. Plato’s classic Symposium also converses about homoerotic relationships in ancient Greece. However, in The Laws, Plato expresses more conservative views on homosexuality, suggesting it should be discouraged for procreation reasons.

We can only suspect that many societies chose not to recognize the existence of sexual-/gender-variant people in their midst. Moreover, the fact that transgender people have faced very real danger in revealing their presence greatly encourages them to refrain from doing so. (Winter, 2010, p. 25)

I understand that homosexuality seems to go against conservative teachings and that humans are supposed to reproduce, but we cannot use the same old ruler to measure what is right or wrong in the modern world. Many people in the LGBTQ+ community have been harmed physically and mentally for years. Several countries state that same-sex intercourse is illegal, with penalties ranging from prison to death. Examples include Oscar Wilde, an Irish author who questioned society on many levels and was arrested in 1895 for homosexual acts, and Alan Turing, a British mathematician who played a significant role in World War II. Turing was given a choice between imprisonment and probation, which involved undergoing hormonal physical changes. Despite his contributions to his country, it is widely believed that Turing committed suicide in 1954 due to the pressure he faced because of his sexual orientation. “In 1970, you couldn’t find much on the subject of homosexuality, and most of it argued that gay people were sick, sinners, or criminals—or some combination of all three” (Endean & Eaklor, 2006, p. 193). The lack of understanding in the past led to mistreating members of the LGBTQ+ community. In the late 90s, society still did not accept gay behavior. Tin et al. (2008) mention that “in 1997, a campaign manifesto issued by the far right British National Party stated: we promise . . . laws prohibiting homosexual acts so that these revolting practices can be pushed back into the closet where they belong” (p. 178). After several years of hiding in the closet and calling for rights, the first same-sex marriages took place in the Netherlands in 2001, followed by more than 30 countries in the past 20 years that have legalized same-sex marriage (Pew Research Center, 2023). Even though LGBTQ+ people are still part of marginalized community, there is no point of discrimination because of love that is not up to standard. As the lyrics of Born This Way say: no matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender life, I’m on the right track, baby, I was born to survive.

But do they really survive? In 2022, five people were killed at a gay nightclub in Colorado (Peipert & Bedayn, 2022). In 2023, a business owner was shot in front of her shop in California where she flew a pride flag, even though she wasn’t identified as a member of the LGBTQ+ community but a supporter (“A store owner was killed,” 2023). The progress in each state and country is progressing at different paces. Even in places where same-sex intercourse is legal, some people die because of hatred. I am writing this essay in the month of June, known as Pride Month, when LGBTQ+ individuals gather and walk in parades to raise awareness and to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots. It started 50 years ago on June 28, 1970, known at the time as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. The first annual march was led by Craig Rodwell, an owner of the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, who unsurprisingly participated in the Stonewall uprising. The rainbow flag designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 is not only used by the LGBTQ+ community to reflect the spectrum of human sexuality but is also adopted by many marketing campaigns. “Rainbow-washing is the practice of using rainbow-themed symbolism in branding, advertising, merchandise, or social media, ostensibly in solidarity with LGBTQ+ people during Pride Month, but without active support of LGBTQ+ people’s identities or rights” (Bandera, 2024, para. 6). Hypocritically, there are companies that prepare Pride campaigns while donating to politicians and organizations discriminating against LGBTQ+ people. Tin et al. (2008) bring up what happened in the past cinematic industry, where “gays and lesbians had to be content with cryptic depictions and sly nods” (p. 102). Nowadays, boys-love and girls-love media is more open in the entertainment industry. But does it really raise awareness and help people understand the community? Or is it just a genre with die-hard fans who are ready to pay? While Japan is producing tons of BL (boys-love) and GL (girls-love) manga and Thailand is also known as one of the greatest exporters of gay series, they have not yet fully legalized same-sex marriage. Looking through these comics and dramas, many of the leading roles follow traditional heterosexual norms, with one person more masculine while the other is usually more feminine, and those flamboyantly gay people exist merely as props or comedic characters. The LGBTQ+ community is still on the edge; however, compared to the past, we have taken small steps, and those steps have brought us a far distance.

One of the community’s enemies is misunderstanding, which can sometimes evolve into hatred. I was once sitting at my host kid’s elementary school when a friendly second-grade boy walked up to chat with me. The first question he asked was whether I am a boy or a girl. I explained to him as simply as I could to educate him about the community and that not every girl needs to have long hair, and even a straight masculine man can let his hair grow long too. He nodded, and after that day, we always greeted each other. See how pure and open-minded kids are. Humans are born without opinions and biases. These develop as a person grows up, gaining experience and education. If people understand each other and embrace members of marginalized communities as humans who deserve acceptance just like them, perhaps one day, we can all live safely with equal rights, being ourselves.

References

A store owner was killed over a Pride flag she flew in front of her California business. (2023, August 20). AP News. https://apnews.com/article/pride-flag-store-owner-killed-california-45e0052dc7381d209e344fbf52d2da0b#

Bandera, G. (2024, May 28). Corporate Pinkwashing: How did we get here and what to do about it. FairPlanet. https://www.fairplanet.org/story/how-to-combat-corporate-pinkwashing-in-pride-month

Endean, S., & Eaklor, V. L. (2006). Bringing lesbian and gay rights into the mainstream : twenty years of progress. Harrington Park Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203057360

Lady Gaga. (2011). Born this way [Song]. On Born this way. Interscope; Streamline; Kon Live.

Metcalf, M. (2024). The history of pride. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/ghe/ cascade/index.html?appid=90dcc35abb714a24914c68c9654adb67

Peipert, T., & Bedayn, J. (2022, November 20). Police: Gunman kills 5 at gay club, is subdued by patrons. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f

Pew Research Center. (2023, June 9). Same-sex marriage around the world. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/fact-sheet/gay-marriage-around-the-world

Tin, L.-G., Redburn, M., Michaud, A., & Mathers, K. (2008). The dictionary of Homophobia: a global history of gay & lesbian experience (1st ed.). Arsenal Pulp Press.

Winter, C. R. (2010). Understanding transgender diversity : a sensible explanation of sexual and gender identities. Claire Ruth Winter.