Wishes on bright new wings
When I was a child I was always asked to make a wish for New Year. I'm no longer a child, but I still have wishes.
LGBT people face obstacles throughout life, regardless of age. During childhood and adolescence we’re bullied, and there might be some sexual harassment too. Deflated family expectations can lead to violence. We have no role models to teach us “how to be gay” or to teach society how to treat us.
Schools and colleges are strict about how the two genders must dress. There are insufficient classes about sexual diversity. Gossip is everywhere, indicating that much of society still regards gays as wrongdoers.
Once graduated, being different creates an unnecessary struggle in your career, involving everything from prejudice to unequal benefits and welfare.
With the New Year under way, and since I have a place to say it out loud, I’d like to share my wishes. If you have the same wishes, our collective voice will be louder.
First, I wish for the basic legal rights that the LGBT community has sought for such a long time. I don’t believe a legal guarantee of equality will resolve all the problems at their root, but it’s fundamentally necessary – ensuring that we’re as safe as anyone else.
I wish Thailand would offer education in sexual diversity – both in class and in life. Misconceptions abound, leading to narrow-mindedness. Narrow-minded people don’t want to share this big world with anyone who’s “different”.
If they were aware that “different” doesn’t equate to sinful or repulsive or dangerous, the planet would be a happier place. Both schools and the community need to learn this lesson, in formal classes, through the mass media, and in daily social activity.
I wish everyone could see that we’re all the same. I really don’t understand why people waste so much time and energy fighting against “different”. We might look and behave in unfamiliar ways, but we’re all humans. It’s such an easy concept – why do we have to make life so complicated?
I understand why gay men really love the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. If birds can fly there, why can’t we? We know there’s no actual place above the clouds that’s free from worry, but I think that we can create one right here on earth.
Be brave enough to wish for more than just another year.
