Visibly Invisible: Understanding discrimination against the LGBT community in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n5.028Keywords:
Discrimination, Exclusion, LGBT Community, Identity, StigmaAbstract
The LGBT community represents a population that is often rendered as invisibly visible in society, facing profound discrimination predicated upon their sexual orientation. This paper is a review of secondary sources to investigate the multifaceted experiences of discrimination and exclusion encountered by members of the LGBT community across various spheres of their lives. The discrimination faced by these individuals has detrimental effects on their mental health and may compel them towards occupations they may not have freely chosen, including sex work, begging, and specific jobs within the transgender community, such as badhaiyaan. Such pervasive bias obstructs their way towards equality, highlighting the imperative to cultivate a more inclusive and accepting society for all individuals. This paper analyzes the pressing necessity for transformative societal reforms aimed at fostering acceptance, understanding, and inclusivity to dismantle the entrenched stigma that aggravates the feelings of isolation and fear. Collective action, founded on the principles of empathy, is posited as a means to establish a more equitable society that recognizes the rich diversity of human identity.
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