Dear Fundamentalist, Did God Ask You To Check on My Genitals?

Don’t kill homosexuals in God’s name for he created us too, writes Harish Iyer

Julhas Mannan, a Bangladeshi gay rights activist was hacked to death on April 25th

Just when you think life is finally looking brighter for Rainbow People, it takes a turn for the worse. A fortnight ago I was celebrating marriage equality in the South American nation of Colombia. But this week brought bad news. Julhas Mannan, a Bangladeshi gay rights activist and his friend were hacked to death in Dhaka, signaling how extremists were now openly targeting people for their sexuality in the South Asian nation that still criminalises homosexuality.

Bangladesh has already seen a string of violence against left-leaning intellectuals, liberal thinkers and atheists, but until now nobody had been attacked or killed for being gay.

Mannan had always been brave. He was out and proud. He was respected by the LGBT community for organizing the annual Rainbow Rally, the Bangladeshi equivalent of the Gay Pride Parade. He also edited Roopbaan, a magazine popular among the highly marginalized LGBT community in their country.

Julhas Mannan (on the left) (Photo courtesy: Facebook/Xulhas Mannan)

My Bengali friends tell me Roopbaan means ‘beautiful’. Mannan used his magazine to empower his readers by telling them everyone is beautiful, irrespective of their sex, sexuality or gender.

He was telling us diversity is beautiful, inclusivity is beautiful, equality is beautiful… and this is what ticked off the extremists. They abhor diversity, do not understand what inclusivity means and believe that somehow they are more equal than others. They feel they have the right to decide who lives and who dies.

They feel they have a say in how people should live their lives. If someone defies them, these fanatics feel it is perfectly fine to take them out of the equation.

The group that has taken responsibility for the killings is said to be an affiliate of the Al Qaida. Other religious fundamentalists pledging allegiance to other terrorist outfits have been killing rainbow people across the Middle East and in North Africa. What is interesting is that it isn’t just one religion that is opposed to homosexuality. Now, I’m not saying one needs to abandon religion in order to embrace diversity. But I will appeal to you to abandon judgment, contempt and hate. Real tolerance can only be achieved with an open mind. Acceptance can only come from respect.

Julhas Mannan being honoured at the US Embassy, Dhaka (Photo courtesy: Facebook/Xulhas Mannan)

I have said this before, and I repeat - just as you don’t have to be a woman to support women’s rights, you don’t have to be homosexual yourself to support a homosexual person. We all deserve to live a happy, safe and dignified life.

I do not share a homophobic person’s hate, but I will not respond to it with hate or violence. You are entitled to your opinions and beliefs, but only as long as you do not cause inconvenience or harm to others. When you take a life, you cross a line. All holy scriptures say that murder taints the murderer’s soul. How can you live a pious life with a tainted soul and hate filled heart?

If you believe in God, don’t kill in his/her/hir  name, (yes! who gave you the right to assume the gender for God?) for it is God who creates homosexuals. We are not apparitions or aliens. We do not fall from the sky or emerge dharti ka seena phaad ke. We were created just as you were. Ask yourself what is it you hate most about homosexuality? Is it the manner in which we have sex? Frankly, it isn’t very different. Moreover, how is that any of your business? Don’t you have a life to live, mouths to feed, a job to do, people to look after? Is your hate for us an escape from the drudgery of your own life? How is your undue interest in my sex life not voyeuristic or perverted?

Tell me, does God ask you to keep a tab on where my genitals have been? Does God ask you to peep into my bedroom? No? Didn’t think so. So why do you think God wants you to kill me or people like me?

(Photo: iStock)

If it is a matter of your personal preference, then buddy… I don’t like men with moustaches… I find them creepy. But I don’t chase after them with a razor blade! Look deep inside yourself. You will realize how ridiculous your hate is and how it is destroying you before it begins to destroy anyone else.

Remember, hate destroys the hater, not the hated. J

So stop hating, I appeal because I pity you.

(Harish Iyer is an equal rights activist working for the rights of the LGBT community, women, children and animals. ‘Rainbow Man’ is Harish’s regular blog for The Quint)