THE RAINBOW PROJECT

LETS
GET
ONE
THING
STRAIGHT,
I'M NOT.
THE RAINBOW PROJECT

CREDITS
EDITOR
SHIREEN SINGH
SAUMYA BHARDWAJ
SUB-EDITOR
SUHANI AHLUWALIA
WASIM KHAN
DESIGNER
SHIREEN SINGH
CONTENT CREATOR
AMANDEEP SINGH
RITIK BAKSHI
SHOBHIT SHEKHAR
VINAY PARIDA

CO
NT
EN
1. ABOUT
2. EDITOR'S DESK
3. LESBIAN
4. GAY
5. BISEXUAL
6. TRANSGENDER
TS

ABOUT
The LGBT community is also known as the gay
community,
which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
LGBT organizations, and subcultures, united by a
common culture and social movements. In our society
despite constitutional laws some communities are
still looked down upon.
One of those communities is LGBT community who still
face many difficulties regarding their social and
cultural rights in society. Government still has
improved some laws that directly discriminated
towards this community but many other protections
have still not provided to them.
Homosexuality was never considered as criminal
offence in ancient Indian and traditional codes but
was criminalized by the British when they were
ruling India. Even after certain political movements
in favor of LGBT community, there remains a
significant amount of discrimination and disliking
present among the Indian
population, with around half of Indians objecting to
same-sex relationships.

EDITOR'S DESK
It has actually been the most rewarding work of my graduation so far
to publish this magazine for the L.G.B.T.Q community by breaking
down the stereotype. Steering away from run-of-the mill
publications, the rainbow project aims to help its target audience &
other readers understand what “being queer” really means and helps
them connect with like minded people. It’s time we came out of the
closet.
The magazine covers a broad range of articles featuring queer rights,
acceptance, perception, pop culture, and more.
With the onset of the “queer” movement and LGBTQ activism in India,
primarily because of the historic Delhi High Court judgment
decriminalizing homosexuality in India, the conservative&
orthodox society of ours,started taking, the identity of the
community and issues relevant to their status in society, into
consideration.
When I’m asked about my role as a “writer activist”,the stereotypical
notion that separates writing from activism, gets on my nerves; “It’s
as if a writer is someone who’s supposed to be subtle and aesthetic, as
opposed to the activist who’s always loud and on-your-face. Can a
good writer not be a good activist too?”
The sorrows and joys I write about are uniquely mine and well if I
write well —yours, too.
Hey,
yup still QUEER.

LESBIAN
RESEARCH BY AMANDEEP

A lesbian is a homosexual woman.The
word lesbian is also used for women in
relation to their sexual identity or
sexual behavior, regardless of sexual
orientation, or as an
adjective to characterize or associate
nouns with female homosexuality or
same-sex attraction.
Symbol representing lesbian made
from two interlocked astronomical
symbols for the planet Venus. In
biology, the singular symbol
represents the female sex.

CRITICISM
Lesbian feminism presented one way for women to free
themselves from both male domination and hetero sexism. Its
analysis of society was based on two central claims. The first
was an assertion that heterosexuality encompassed much more
than a form of sexual desire, that it also functioned as an
institution that supported male supremacy and female
subordination. Romantic love, familial structures,
traditional gender roles, and even the U.S. economic
structure reinforced heterosexuality, making it compulsory
and leaving its putative normalcy unquestioned. At the same
time that heterosexuality helped perpetuate the subordination
of women, it reinforced the benefits that women
could gain from participation in partnerships with men, which
gave them added status and economic privileges. The threat of
losing those advantages kept women from challenging the
status quo and acting in ways that might jeopardize
their status.

PERCEPTION
The Pew Research Center's 2013
Global Attitudes Survey "finds
broad acceptance of
homosexuality in North America,
the European Union, and much of
Latin America,
but equally widespread
rejection in predominantly
Muslim nations and in Africa,
as well as in parts of Asia and
in Russia". The survey also
finds
"acceptance of homosexuality is
particularly widespread in
countries where religion is
less central in people's lives.
These are also among the richest
countries in the world. In
contrast, in poorer countries
with high levels of religiosity,
few believe homosexuality
should be accepted by society.
Age is also a factor in several
countries, with younger
respondents offering far more
tolerant views than older ones.
And while gender differences
are not prevalent,
in those countries where they
are, women are consistently
more accepting of
homosexuality than men."

LEGAL RIGHTS GLOBALLY
In 2011, the
United Nations Human Rights Council passed its first resolution
recognizing
LGBT rights, following which the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner
for Human Rights issued a report documenting violations of the
rights of lesbians , including hate crimes, criminalization
of homosexual activity, and discrimination. Following the
issuance of the
report, the United Nations urged all countries which had not yet
done so to
enact laws protecting basic lesbians rights.

ACCEPTANCE
Many of the world's cultures have, in the past, considered
procreative sex within a recognized relationship to be a sexual
norm—sometimes exclusively so,
and sometimes alongside norms of same-sex love, whether
passionate, intimate or sexual.
Societal attitudes toward homosexuality vary greatly across
different cultures and historical periods, as do attitudes
toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in
general. All cultures have their own values regarding
appropriate and inappropriate sexuality; some sanction samesex
love and sexuality, while
others may disapprove of such activities in part. As with
heterosexual behaviour, different sets of prescriptions and
proscriptions may be given to individuals according to their
gender, age, social status or social class.

GAY
RESEARCH BY RITIK

Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual
person or the trait of being Homosexual. The term was originally used to
mean carefree and cheerful or bright and showy.
Sexual interest in and attraction to members of one’s own
sex. The term gay is frequently used as a synonym for homosexual; female
homosexuality is often referred to as gay.
In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun,
referring to the community, practices and cultures associated with
homosexuality. In the 1960's, gay became the word favored by homosexual men
to describe their sexual orientation.
By the end of the 20th century, the word gay was recommended by major LGBT
groups and style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same
sex.
At about the same time, a new, pejorative use became
prevalent in some parts of the world. Among younger speakers, the word has a
meaning ranging from derision to a light-hearted mockery or ridicule .
In this use, the word rarely means homosexual , as it is often used, for
example, to refer to an inanimate object or abstract concept of which one
disapproves.

Scientific studies show that the financial, psychological, and
physical well-being of gay people are enhanced by marriage, and
that the children of same-sex parents benefit from being raised
by married same-sex couples within a marital union that is
recognized by law and supported by societal institutions.
Social science research
indicates that the
exclusion of homosexuals
from marriage
stigmatizes and invites
public discrimination
against them, with
research also
repudiating the notion
that
either civilization or
viable social orders
depend upon
restricting marriage to
heterosexuals.
Same-sex marriage can provide those in committed same-sex relationships with
relevant government services and make financial demands on them comparable to
that required of those in opposite-sex
marriages, and also gives the legal protections such as inheritance and
hospital visitation rights. Opposition to same-sex marriage is based on claims
such as that homosexuality is unnatural and
abnormal, that the recognition of same-sex unions will
promote homosexuality in society, and that children are better off when raised
by opposite-sex..

CRITICISM
Zephyr and Hyakinthos: Greek mythology, which often features
homosexuality, is a source for much
modern speculative fiction. Mythic figures continue to
appear in fantasy stories.
Gay literature is a collective term for literature produced
by or for the LGBT community which
involves characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying
male homosexual behavior.] The term is
now used most commonly to cover specifically gay male
literature, with a separate genre of lesbian
literature existing for women. Historically, the term and
gay literature was sometimes used to cover
both gay male and lesbian literatures.

Same-sex marriage (also known as gay
marriage) is the marriage
of two people of the
same sex or gender, entered into in a
civil or religious
ceremony. There are records
of same-sex marriage dating back to the
first century. In
the modern era, same-sex
marriage started being legalized at the
beginning of the
21st century. Today, it is
available in 28 countries.
legal rights
The introduction of same-sex marriage
has varied by jurisdiction,
and came about through legislative change to
marriage law, court rulings
based on constitutional guarantees of equality,
recognition
that it is allowed by
existing marriage law, or by direct popular
vote. The
recognition of same-sex marriage is considered
to be a human
right and a civil right
as well as a political,
social, and religious issue.

ACCEPTANCE
Gay pulp fiction or gay pulps, refers to printed works,
primarily fiction, that include references to male homosexuality,
specifically male gay sex, and that are heaply produced, typically
in paperback books made of wood pulp paper; lesbian pulp fiction
is similar work about women.
. Michael Bronski,
The editor of an anthology of gay
pulp writing, notes in his
introduction, Gay pulp is not an
exact
term, and it is used somewhat
loosely to refer to a variety
of books that had very different
origins
and markets People
often use the term to refer to the &
gay pulps that were produced
before
about 1970, but it may also be used
to refer to the gay erotica or
pornography in paperback book or
digest magazine form produced
since that date.

BISEXUALITY
RESEARCH BY VINAY PARIDA

Whenever you ask someone
“What is bisexuality? What
does it mean to be
bisexual+?” you may find
the answer varies,
depending upon who is
answering the question. Is
bisexuality defined by
identity, behavior,
attractions – or some
combination of these?
Where does bisexuality
begin and end? Human
sexuality is sometimes
seen as a continuum, with
same-sex attractions on
one end and different-sex
attractions on the other, a
notion popularized by the
Kinsey scale.

When talking about bisexuality, it is sometimes useful to
distinguish between behavior, attraction, and identity. Someone
who has had sexual experience with or even just attractions to
people of more than one gender can be described as bisexual+, but
may not identify that way. Likewise, one can identify as
bisexual+ regardless of sexual experience. Furthermore,
identities can change over time or be used
in different contexts, whether personal, community, or
political. Definitions change too.
. Does bisexuality
encompass people whose physical, sexual, emotional, and romantic
attractions
change over time? If you are once bisexual+ are you always
bisexual+? If you
are in a long-term relationship, do you stop being bisexual+ and
“become” gay or straight depending on the gender of
your partner? And for each of these questions, who gets to decide?
(The answer
to the question, if you are bisexual+, is YOU and YOU alone!)

WHAT ROBYN OSCH SAID
My own understanding
of bisexuality has changed dramatically over the years. I used to
define
bisexuality as “the potential to be attracted to people
regardless of their
gender.”
Then one day I was
chatting with my friend Alberto, who, like me, identifies as
bisexual. I tossed
out my definition and he looked at me like I was crazy.
Here’s my current definition of bisexuality. “I call myself
bisexual because I acknowledge
in myself the potential to be attracted, romantically and/or
sexually, to
people of more than one sex, not necessarily at the same time, not
necessarily
in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.”

FACT-ETIOUS
Bisexual people are
almost twice as likely
to be parents
than their
gay or lesbian
58% of bisexuals are
exposed to biphobic
jokes at work,
and 31% have been
sexually harassed on the
job because
of who they are.
Almost half of bisexual
people make
less than
$30,000 annually,
compared to 28%
of the general
population.
Just short of
60% of bi
women live with
anxiety and mood
disorders, almost
double the rate of their
straight peers

Around a quarter
to one
third of Millennials
and Generation X
are neither
completely straight
nor gay.
More than half
of LGBT
youth are bi+,
including 7%
who are
pansexual
and 4% who
are queer
40% of bi high
school students
seriously
considered
attempting suicide
Nearly 1/3 of
bisexual high
students ended
up attempting
suicide.

ACCEPT, DON'T STIGMATIZE
Despite our increased acceptance of the LGBTQ
community, the “B” is often left out. People use
excuses for why they wouldn’t date a bisexual
person — like competition with both genders
for their partner’s attention or the belief that
bisexuality doesn’t exist — but it boils down to
this: Bisexuality is still misunderstood by a
society that refuses to accept it.
We must do better. We must destroy the myths that
bisexual people are promiscuous, indecisive or
going through a phase. We must understand that
sexuality cannot be chosen based on convenience
or availability. Love who you love no matter
who they are attracted to, and see those myths
for what they are: stigmas that stand in the way
of love and acceptance.

TRANSGENDER
RESEARCH BY SHOBHIT

In simple words, we can define transgender
as person whose
inner sex in opposite to the sex which is
assigned to her or him at the time of
birth.
In many of the cases, the sex of a child which we determined at
the time of birth is correct but there are some people who don not feel
the same sex which had assigned to them and one thing which we have to
put focus is that it is not their choice to be the person of opposite sex
it’s their strong feelings or a natural instinct and we all know how
difficult it is to live life against the basic nature of ourselves so
these people will do some surgeries to completely turned into a sex
which they feel like (not all people do) so we can
conclude that a sex of person can not be decided or judged only by seen
genitals there are some exception as well

LEGAL RIGHTS GLOBALLY
A lot of progress has been made for transgender rights across
the world. While there is still much more to do, most countries support
trans people legally changing their gender, although many still require
trans people to undergo gender affirmation surgery to do so.
In 2018, 34 countries in Europe still require a
mental health diagnosis to determine whether a person is transgender and
legally able to affirm their gender on official documents

CRITICISM
Transgender
individuals have to face discrimination within
their own family units and
schools, in employment and housing, within
government settings, through hate
crimes, and under the justice and legal systems.
Transgender also face
discrimination moat of the time employment and
when they buy a house.
Transgender
individuals are disproportionately affected by
hate crimes, and some could
argue the current justice and legal system are
not equipped to manage such
crimes.

RECOGNITION
The procedure in Japan for changing an
individual’s legal gender is regressive and
very much harmful. It rests on an
outdated and pejotive notion that
transgender identity is a mental health
condition, and requires
transgender people who want legal
recognition to undergo lengthy, expensive,
invasive, and irreversible medical
procedures.

PERCEPTION OF
HETEROSEXUAL PEOPLE
To date, there is
only one study researching on American public
attitudes toward transgender
people. This research gap makes us unclear that
people in general to know what
actually transgender means and whether public
support for transgender is right
depends on understanding and knowing
transgender people. the population of
transgender people is estimated to be smaller
than gay,lesbian, and bisexual people,
examining whether and
how having a friend or family member who is
lesbian or gay relates to
transgender rights is very much important to
know the political coalitions and
attitude change.

Breaking down the stereotypes

THE RAINBOW PROJECT