Supporting Family
I am myself not a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, but I know their struggles in this World, with my cousin sister (elder than me) being a part of the community and having to endure so much hatred. I learnt a lot from him (my sister identifies as a man) and how he slowly and steadily rised through all barriers. He always used to tell me how much easier it would be for him only if the LGBTQIA+ movements in Kolkata took place earlier. It would have been his helping hand and my submission, a pen sketch is dedicated to him.
~ An anonymous Boy
Coming Out
"I never had the courage to openly come out while I was a student of IISER, though quite a few of my friends knew by the time I graduated. Despite people being less exposed to LGBTQIA+ issue 10 years ago, I had the good fortune of having extremely accepting friends and roommates. In the last few years, I have met up with several LGBTQIA+ scientists, graduate students and researchers, and have come to the conclusion that along with creating safe spaces for the younger generations, we need for us to be visibile. It is important people know that we exist. Not just as a statistic, or a token, but as fully functional human beings with complex emotions and unenviable flaws. So here I am, coming out to the IISER Kolkata community: I am a theoretical chemist and I am in the spectrum.
In a way it is funny that I grew up in Kolkata and yet I learned that Kolkata had the first pride parade in South Asia only after leaving the country. So far, everytime I attended a Pride parade, I thought, 'this could have been in my hometown.' That little guilt and embarassment reminds me of my privileges and the reasons for us to strive for equity.
To all the people in IISER Kolkata who might remember me and are reading this: I am sorry that couldn't come out in person."
~ A senior from 09MS
Love Poems
"LGBTQIA+ people are love poems. Love was that quite voice whispering to us that we were something worth fighting for, despite what everyone else believed. We found something redeemable in ourselves, precisely in the places we were taught to reject....
~ Anonymous
Constant Struggle
I knew I was in the spectrum from a very young age. And ever since I realized what being queer in this society means, I feared that I would be abandoned by my family. That is scary to think for a 13 year old child. I have taken all these years to mentally prepare myself for the day when I come out to them. I have thought through all the possibilities and everything that could go wrong. Every time I spend quality time with my parents, go to family functions and gatherings, I think this might be the last time I am doing all this and so I try to enjoy every bit of it. They love me so much right now and it is disheartening to think that they might turn away from me one day. For majority part of my teenage years, I hoped that I would stop 'feeling queer' because that would save me from a lot of judgments and the fear of abandonment. Even if my parents accept me, I hate to think that they will have to take a lot of crap from the society. But I know, despite all the fears, I will have to come out to the world someday because I am tired of living dual lives. Pride doesn't come easy. It is a struggle and I am yet to reach there. Maybe I will be stronger by then.
~Anonymous
Journey of self-discovery
"Straying from being cisgender in India means having to be able to provide a mandatory ,coherent course on gender, sex, and sexuality, (add being genderfluid to that) and prepare to feel like you just turned whatever little idea you managed to get across to the other person, on its head. Pride to me is understanding - understanding your own self enough to get over the constant stigma you are bound to encounter, and never doubting that part of you. It's an ongoing journey, but I believe I'll get there."
~ a senior freshie
