Strength TogetHER 19 - Session 2

19th June,2021

Love has no limits, only people do.

We themed the second session of Strength TogetHER, cohort 19 'Our society and the acceptance of Queerness'. Taking about Strength TogetHER, it is a virtual space which provides safe space to girls. It is a platform where girls can share their feelings, emotions in a safe environment. This platform is confidential and girls can share without limits. Strength TogetHER is facilitate by Lokopakar, organization which helps in overall youth development.

The session was moderated by Dr.Manita Newa Khadgi, founder of the first official collective of Nepali Asexuals. She/her is a medical doctor, a queer feminist, a vegan and an environmentalist.An artist, a healer, a dreamer and a mental health advocate, she has been constantly breaking stereotypes and finally living an unapologetic life.

I was personally very excited and curious about the session because I wanted to know more about LGBTIQ++ community. The session started around 5 in the evening and continued till 6.30 with an active participants of nearly 20+ girls. The session was hosted through the virtual world of zoom.

Starting off the session, we had few speakers who were really enthusiastic about sharing their experiences and incidents and gain a lot from our moderator.

-Our first speaker shared about her own story She realized that she was attracted to both male and female when she was in her high school. Through the process of undergoing changes, she was able to explore her identity and share her coming out story.

-Our second speaker went on a trip with her batch mates. While travelling in a train they met 'hermaphrodite gang'.At first, they were really scared as to how to react. But later on 'hermaphrodite gang's people gave them blessings and talked so sweetly with them. This incident changed her whole perspective and made her realize that its high time that our society change their mindset.

-Our third speaker shared the story of her friend who was bisexual. When her friend shared that she was attracted to both male and female, she was confused as how to react in front of her friend. To this she felt that there is a need to expand and acquire more knowledge.

-Our fourth speaker shared that one of he friend liked someone who was bisexual. When of her age came to know about this,they started talking ill of hers. Her friend was humiliated. This made her feel helpless. There is a need of acceptance from the society where we live in.

After hearing to all the stories, our moderator felt a need to explain few terms related to LGBTIQ++ community-

-Gender Identity means personal conception of oneself as male or female.

-Sexual orientation means are you sexually attracted too?

-When male is attracted to female and vice versa, it is called Homophobic.

-When male is attracted to male, it is called Heterogeneous.

-When a person is attracted to anyone regardless of the gender, it is called Pan Sexual.

-When a person is not attracted to anyone, it is called Asexual.

-When a person is attracted to both male and female, it is called Bi Sexual.

By the end of the session, we came to know a lot about the different terms and what it means. It was really a fruitful and informative session. We were privileged to have Manita Ma'am as our moderator who could solve many of our queries and confusions.

Our society is still very backward and they need to accept that 'Love has no Limits'.

Written By- Manaswi Agrawal (LOKOPAKAR)