Watch: Why it takes a comedy show to dispel myths about the LGBTQ community (clue: clarity)
The problem is not with the LGBTQ community, the problem is everyone else.
The first two weeks of November were celebrated as transgender awareness weeks this year, while November 20 was observed as “Transgender Remembrance Day” to commemorate the deaths of transgender people from actions arising from hate.
Hate, as comedian Abish Mathews aptly put it, is generated from ignorance. Humans, by nature, are fearful of the unknown, or things they know little about – a fear that often tends to manifest itself as forms of hate and violence. And the LGBTQ community is no stranger to that phenomenon.
So, through the latest episode of his variety comedy show (above) Son of Abish, the host conveys the notion that the best way to learn about the LGBTQ community is to learn from the community itself. He invited a range of people to dispel some common myths and misconceptions, such as, “lesbians hate all men” (they don’t), or that you can become gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender or queer whenever you want and reverse it when you feel like (you don’t become, you just are).
Predictably, it turns out, the problem is with the rest of us.