For a really long time, the LGBTQIA+ community has endured mistreatment at the hands of the general public that appears to be confined within the definition of being high society, upper-standing, cis-gendered, white-cleaned individuals. The vast majority of them neglect in their understanding that pride, notwithstanding the entirety of its tones and camp feel, is grounded in the truth of obstruction against social authorities.
Straight Pride supporters would have you believe that straight pride is an opportunity to express their own gushing pride for being brave enough to be straight in today's gay-driven society where they believe hetero individuals are getting less and less of a voice. However, in reality, it is a fear-mongering reaction driven by maliciously clever homophobes who are preying on the current straight-white fragility and pride in order to attract even more attention to their gross ideas.
The resistance to "straight pride" isn't hostility to heterosexuality—it's contradicting the not so subtle homophobia underneath the development and what we realise this development could mean for the security and prosperity of LGBTIQ+ individuals all over the planet.
What happened at Hindu College?
A straight-pride collective made by six, as yet anonymous, students from Hindu College, Delhi, has recently surfaced on Instagram. Since its inception, the page has made several homophobic statements, alongside indulging in defamation and spreading fake news.
There has been an attempt by an Instagram page, namely '@hcstraightpride', towards attacking, harassing and doxxing the queer community on campus. They claim themselves to be a society against the "sins" of homosexuality and have blatantly threatened to leak private information about the club members. They went on to term the members of the community as "mentally ill leftists" while continually harassing them on social media. In addition to this, they have also posted transphobic content and posts that attack neurodivergent folks. It is crystal clear that their words are guided by queerphobia and transphobia. However, SFI Hindu College believes that every student must have the right to express and identify themselves in their own preferred ways and feel safe on campus.
What has the account posted?
The page then posted a poster of TedX Hindu, seemingly inviting them to "deliver a speech on the correlation between authoritarianism and the LGBTQ+ community". They claimed that, after much talk, the president of TedX Hindu agreed to let them use their platform to spread their ideology. The official TEDx page of the college vehemently opposed their involvement with the straight pride collective on their story, saying it was fake, and put out a post expressing solidarity with Hindu College’s Queer Collective, which had been repeatedly targeted in the straight pride collective’s posts.
The straight pride collective additionally set up offensive images, fundamentalist and Nazi images on their Instagram stories.They have guaranteed that they will soon expose the Queer Collective. DU Beat got in touch with the ex-president of the queer collective, Sue, to get their opinion on the same.
They called the whole thing a mockery of the new guidelines for ragging, which include pointers based on gender and sexual orientation. Sue also mentioned how a similar incident of forging screenshots had taken place in the past. In response to the allegations, Sue said, "Our posts are assigned through a process of election, so this has no factual basis to be claimed as true." Talking about the existing queer culture in Hindu, they said that it’s absolutely vibrant. The desperation to dim our light can be seen by how threatened they are with queer visibility.
To add to the pot of ruckus created by the straight pride collective, they put out a statement of solidarity from the Sociology department of Hindu College on their Instagram page. This was forged too, and the Sociology department took to its Instagram page to publish a statement against hate, stating that this anonymous group had wrongly used the name of the department with malicious and criminal intent.
Right now, the straight pride collective seems to be simply claiming ties with other prestigious societies and departments of the college in order to increase its popularity and garner more attention. They went as far as admitting the same, saying it did what it did for attention for their right-wing movement and for the betterment of society. As of the latest updates, the collective has archived some of its posts stating the reason that "college societies are leeching off our movement to increase their engagement." In a college as prestigious as the Hindu College, informally nicknamed as a sexual minority haven, it is a shame to have to encounter such disruptive ideologies at play.
Misreading Straight Priviledges
Homophobia ranges from physically assaulting people of the community, harassing them to disregarding their identity, and the slew of deplorable acts goes on and on. It stigmatises society even more and this has a very real and grim impact on the members of the LGBTQ+ community, from mental health to physical well being, each and every part of an individual's life is adversely affected..
If one demands a straight pride parade, let’s have every one of them walk a mile in heels first. Try living in a world where it was literally illegal to be your true self. One can be assaulted, murdered, literally hunted down, spat on, bullied, disowned, and stepped on by people who have never seen you before but hate you just for being queer. Your occupation is at risk because of your sexuality. This could lead to forced conversion therapy, which has ranged from electric shock therapy to lobotomy. It doesn’t work—but that doesn’t stop people trying.
How can one feel discriminated against for being straight? There is nothing a straight person has ever had to fight for or struggle against just because he or she is straight. Name one country where one can legally be murdered for being straight. Therefore, there isn’t any reason to take pride in it.
While Pride is not for straight cisgender folks, LGBTQA+ allies are certainly welcome. Everyone should be able to go to Pride. Straight allies and LGBTQ+ people are both welcome. With trust among the allies, the celebration of pride becomes grander. Come show us your respect and love for who we are.
However, whoever attends must follow the "number-one rule" of Pride: "Respect all people of all sexualities and genders in attendance."
~ Shrikanth Venugopalan
Bibliography - DU Beat, EndingHIV, GroundReport, Healthline
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