Discrimination and Conversion Therapy

Introduction:

When the draconian section 377 was abolished or rather decriminalized back in September 2018, many were of the view that it would mark the advent of the inclusion of the queer people within the Indian Society. Majority of the so-called progressed section of our society received it with a welcoming approach by cherishing and celebrating this victory hands in with the LGBTQIA community

However, within a matter of two years of these celebrations, the suicide of a 21-year-old girl named Anjana Hareesh on the 12^th of May had shocked and created unrest across the country. Anjana was being forced into conversion therapy for months after coming out to her parents as bisexual. This incident serves as an epiphany and as an eye-opener that many who supported the victory of this community back then were doing so just to feel included in the social movement and the trend that prevailed back then after the judgment.

Unsurprisingly this support faded within a matter of months and the society conveniently shifted back to its old misogynistic attitude towards sexuality wherein anything and everything apart from heterosexuality is considered as a mental illness. The treatment of such an ‘illness’ comes in the form of “Conversion Therapy”.

The Infamous Conversion Therapy

Conversion therapy or as sometimes referred to as the reparative therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual using psychological or spiritual interventions. These therapies include a range of dangerous and repeatedly discredited counseling and psychotherapy practices that involves a variety of shaming, emotionally traumatic, or physically painful stimuli to make their victims associate those stimuli with their identities. All in all the purpose of this ‘Therapy’ is to treat the individuals of a ‘Disease’ by forcing them to become a ‘stranger’ to their own body and self!!   

Now, there is no reliable evidence that the sexual orientation of an individual can be changed through any means. Rather the conversion therapy is known to adversely affect mental health in terms of generating feelings of shame, which further aggravates negative syndromes such as depression and anxiety. This is the reason why these pseudos – practices have been rejected by every major medical and mental health organization for decades as the conversion therapy practices are ineffective and potentially harmful for the subjects.

Despite all this, the grim reality remains is that the conversion therapy mostly does serve its purpose and this happens not because it is successful in changing the sexuality of the individual but because it destroys and breaks the will of the individual to such an extent that they are left with no other option but to surrender to the wishes of the high morals of their ‘concerned parents’.

Violation of Legal Rights by this Therapy

Further, what is essential to note here is that in the landmark judgment of Navtej Johar and Others V/s Union of India the Hon’ble Supreme Court while decriminalizing homosexuality authoritatively asserted the fact that “Homosexuality is not an illness”. Furthermore, this conversion therapy stands in clear violation of Article 15 of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex as the Supreme Court has clarified it that the word ‘sex’ used in Article 15 is not only restricted to the biological attributes of an individual but also include their “sexual identity and character”. Also, this therapy stands in direct contravention of the anti-discrimination provisions of the Mental Health Care Act of 2017, and thus, people practicing it are subject to imprisonment and or fine under section 108 of the Mental Health Care Act.

Why it Still Prevails in Our Country

Now after reading all this the very question that might be popping up in the minds is that why these illegal and repressive therapies are still taking place in the ‘Modern India’? However, this is precisely the question we need not ask if we know India! Just because a rule has been changed doesn’t mean that the perspectives of the people will change as well. This happens because of the tendency that we have, wherein we are reluctant to accept changes and make peace with the fact that our way is not the correct way. We often tackle this deficiency of ours by discrediting the very change and the people who do not fit in ‘our old ways’, ‘our antiquated culture’, ‘our sanskars’, and ultimately our ‘Ideal Society’.       

It is ignorance and naivety to think a simple amendment in the laws will change age-old mentalities. These issues of homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, or phobia against even the slightest diversion from “normalcy” won’t go away in a day. These are products of centuries-old stigmas that people have developed through their ‘beliefs’ and their ‘heritage’. Although through awareness, protests, and strong resistance people succeeded in bringing a legal remedy, but when has the law ever truly stopped anyone from hating.   

What’s even more heartbreaking is the fact that these articles that we write, the protest that we carry out and the outrage that we showcase will have little or no effect on the people who have carried such phobia against anyone who is not heterosexual for the entirety of their lives. No matter how much sense we make it will always be hard for them to accept the fact that the beliefs that they have carried their entire life are not correct, homosexuality bisexuality or any other sexuality is not unnatural to but is a part of the human existence. The sad truth is that there is no switch that one can flick on or off to suddenly make India progressive and understanding.

The Way Forward

The battle for the inclusion of the LGBTQIA community within the ‘antiquated culture’ and ‘sophisticated society’ of India was always going to be a long one, but what our little efforts and contribution can do is that it can ensure that those who can’t happily and readily accept the truth about this community they would at the very least stop despising them and looking them with a suspicious view.

Apart from all this, what is paramount for us to ensure is that the coming generations who are going to become the face of this nation in the near future, they are brought up in an education system that is better than ours wherein the teachers were hesitant while discussing topics like reproduction and sexuality in an open class because that was in contravention to our ‘Sanskars’ and ‘Marayada’; what is essential for us is to ensure that our coming generation is brought up in an education system that helps them to come to terms with the fact that homosexuality, bisexuality, or any other sexuality, is not a teenage “phase”. It can’t be “cured”, just like being heterosexual can’t. It is not “unnatural”.

Conclusion

Until and unless these basic changes are not absorbed by our society, people like Anjana will always be subject to discrimination and barbaric practices like that of Conversion Therapy which consequently results in them being crushed under the high morals, culture, and sacred beliefs. This is an issue of concern for our nation.