The Flower Blooms In Every Garden – By Dr. Neha Tekwani
Feature of National Pride Conclave
Sexuality! A concept broader than diversity itself, encompassing a vast spectrum of diverse human interactions with people from opposite genders or of same-sex. Although, heterosexuality is a common ground to establish romantic relationships across the world, the Global Goldener’s—LGBTQ+ Community, has found its roots through the uprising of the StoneWall Riots of 1969.
The police raid at the StoneWall Inn, New York City, targeting the homosexual people, ignited the trigger of responsibility among the ostracized in the society. The protest, which was a response to the unfortunate raid, targeted the discriminatory laws, demanding equal rights, and recognition for those discovering their different sexual orientations and nature.
To commemorate the StoneWall Riots, the first Pride March was held in the month of June, 1970 in the iconic cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. It promotes a sense of individuality as well as unity, fostering morale and acknowledging contributions of the LGBTQ+ Community. As June became the official Pride Month of celebrations, after thirty toilsome years, the community experienced the first ray of hope with the inclusive step of President Bill Clinton proclaiming the observance as ‘Gay and Lesbian Pride Month’ in 1999.
This historical movement compelled other countries and their Presidents to accept June as the Pride Month allowing the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate their freedom, highlighting the novice identities and respecting the broad spectrum through the inclusion of a ‘+’.
The efforts of the global community gaining massive followers and supporters rang bells even in the conventional country of India where homosexuality was criminalized in the Indian Penal Code, and the much talked about, Gay life was out of the radar of the other civilians.
Kolkata’s queer activist, Pawan Dhall along with fifteen other neophytes, adorned in yellow T-shirts with pink triangles stood for Pride under the heavy downpour.
Back then, the chaos of summoning to fight for their sexual identities caused dread in the minds of all those who had begun to open up or take part in small numbers which was then referred to as the Friendly Walk of reigning with free-will. The Queer Indians reached out to one another through extensive E-mailing and yahoo, agreeing to ascend forward and the idea of Pride March surfaced in the orthodox scenery of Indian society.
The acronym that began with only ‘LGB’ recognizing Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexual soon gained prominence in 2010’s as the society’s perception of diversified identities shaped into a flavorful rich culture of visibility.
The third sex ‘Transgender,’ got accepted in the movement, later including Queer or Questioning, Intersex and Asexual coming out of their closets to join the community, creating a profoundly empathetic home of LGBTQIA+.
The global phenomenon saw an ever-evolving victory with the nullifying of Section 377 of IPC and decriminalizing homosexuality in 2018. This opened the doors to self-acceptance, uniformity and humanity.
To this day, people are often bemused with the fact that ‘police had nothing better to do other than controlling people’s existence because they opted to fall for a same-sex person rather than following the stereotypical trend of marrying the opposite sex.’
As an asexual myself, I had difficulty explaining my sexual reservations to my Indian mother who had neither heard the term nor known any signs of identification but as my title says, ‘The Flower Blooms in Every Garden,’ I believe by advocating for this topic, I’ve finally spoken up about who I am at my core. Nevertheless, it doesn’t make anyone less worthy of love or respect because it’s a beautiful-divine truth of life. The shame which used to shadow many of us has been torched with the light of worldwide acceptance as movies, shows, and books promote queer relationships advancing towards a better future for one and all.
The combined endeavors of Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, transgender rights activist and Bharatanatyam dancer, and Anjali Gopalan, Founder of the Naz Foundation, have been instrumental in advocating for the rights and health of LGBTQ+ individuals.
The ebullience of life is not being the same as all. It’s by honoring the differences, raising awareness for all that is and shall exist in the coming years. The world is encompassed by many lives, and LGBTQ+ (asexual, pansexual, intersex, non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and many others) are here to be the Pride Marchers of the greater economy serving a greater purpose.
About the Author
Dr. Neha Tekwani, formerly, H.C. Doctor of Creative Writing is an Indian Literary personality making her mark globally. She writes multi-Genre books, poetry, lyrics, informative and deep articles combining a world of imagination and wisdom. She’s an author of 26 books (Digitally published and titles announced) and co-author of 14 anthologies which are published at various platforms. Her approach is creative, business minded and realistically attention-grabbing.
Neha has won many international and national literary awards for her inspiring contemporary writing. Her kit includes the prestigious Wattpad Wordsmith, Royalist, Oscar Awards; Tagore Ratna and Rabindranath Tagore Literature Award; Young Woman Achiever Award; Rising Ink Literary Award; Certificates of excellence; a change-maker in her domain since 2014. She’s also given the title of ‘India’s Top 10 Most Inspiring Woman in field of literature’ by National Books of Records and ‘Inspiring Woman of the year’ by Asia’s Top 100 Influential Women of Diva Planet Magazine, Crown Publications and many other inspiring and top author awards.
Besides expanding her personal brand as an Author, Poet, Script writer, Neha is also pursuing a Doctorate in marketing management from IIBMRT, Mumbai and is currently, serving an apprenticeship period for Digital Marketing Strategist Officer and Author, while working efficiently to launch her independent paperbacks.
Initially, she has gained experience as a Digital Marketing-Intern, Executive, Content Manager, Content Writer & Product Consultant on part time and freelance basis while pursuing her graduation, post-graduation and creative writing projects.
She also provides blurb/logline writing, manuscript editing, proofreading and content strategy services for authors at affordable charges.
An ambitious and ambivert by nature she’s forever, looking forward to working with an organization or individual clients that help her expand her business, creative and marketing skills and utilize it for entrepreneurship.
She’s a part-time book influencer; loves glass-painting & calligraphy; practices her make-up skills and prefers to watch Netflix in her free time.
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