Strength TogetHER 7 - Session 6

June 17, 2021

"WHY FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT." -Dr Seuss

Lokopakar is a youth based organization which is currently running four programs  among which  "Strength TogetHER" is one of its projects  where a group of girls from diverse backgrounds meet virtually and share their stories, insecurities, ideas and perspectives and help each other grow. In each session a moderator is invited who listens, appreciates and guides the participants.

On 17th June we conducted the 6th session on the topic ''Understanding LGBTQIA++" as suggested by the participants. Around 23 girls joined the session and spoke their hearts out. Our moderator educated us about LGBTQ by answering our queries. 

Our moderator for this session was Nirvana Bhandary. Nirvana Bhandary is a writer, artist and activist. She is the founder of the "F Project Nepal, a writers collective and digital platform for feminist storytelling. She is passionate about encouraging young women to claim their narratives and assert their autonomy in all aspects of life.

Our first speaker shared that she is currently in a relationship with a guy but previously she used to have a crush on girls. She now also sometimes gets feelings for girls. She said that she openly shares about her sexuality with her boyfriend as her boyfriend is very supportive to her.

Our second speaker first mentioned that she is  a huge admirer of our moderator. She  mentioned that she recently came out to her parents as bisexual. She had kept it only among her friends but after coming out to her parents, she felt easier coming out to everyone. She said that her father reacted in a supportive way  while her mother took a while to accept. Now she uses She\ They as her pronouns.

 Our third speaker shared that when she was in school she heard rumors about her queer friends in school, she had not really understood the queer society. Hearing  about her queer friends in gossips made her feel that  queers are a bit different people. Though she never treated them badly or involved in spreading rumors she now feels guilty for not educating the rumor spreaders and not standing up for her queer friends.

 Our fourth speaker uses She/They as her pronouns, she shared that she often gets homophobic and negative messages on her posts on social media like TikTok and Instagram.

 

After sharing these stories our moderator gave feedback to each of them. Some messages that we took home from her feedbacks are:

• Surround yourself with the people who support you , who understand you and will help you enjoy your whole self

• Don't feel pressured to come out and don't worry what others will say, take your time and only focus on what makes you happy.

• First respect people as an individual irrespective of their gender. If you see homophobic people bullying, don't forget to call out them.

• Help people celebrate who they are.

Our moderator also gave ideas about the use of gender pronouns like She\They. Our moderator clearly explained the terms like non-binary, pansexual, lesbian, gay, transgender, etc. We also discussed the queer internalized homophobia.  We got a lot information regarding queer community and its norms. We understood how important it is to educate and aware people about LGBTQ from an early age. After one hour of insightful session we thanked our moderator and bid goodbye.

We are extremely thankful to our moderator for such a thought provoking session.

I am Aahana Dhakal, cohort coordinator of cohort 7 learning by sharing and listening to stories in the Strength TogetHER family.

Written By - Aahana Dhakal (Cohort Coordinator)