I want to set the record straight (pun intended) about some of the myths about Non-binary people.
But, before that I would like to present a few paragraphs from Mr. Sri Prabhav’s article: “A Case For Psychology Of The Indian: Contributing A Non-Linear Indigenous Approach To A Linear Universalist Discipline“
“The Western ideas about sex and gender are foundationally based on the puritanical beliefs of the Christian church and what the bible says about homosexuality. Here, again there are 2 ways that this discussion went as far as Westerners are concerned.
The more “rational” minded and “scientific” researchers, who wanted to “go against the tide” went against the church and even today, to date are trying very hard to prove that our sexuality is not something we choose, but something that we are born with 100 percent of the time.
The Western psychology community, on the other hand, was a little late to the party and had actually categorized homosexuality as a mental disorder in DSM II.
Some psychologists even used aversion therapy, a barbaric and cruel practice to cure “the gays” of their homosexual ways. It was as recently as 1987 when they released DSM–III–R, that homosexuality was dismissed from the manual.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has something called ICD. Homosexuality was removed from the ICD classification only when the WHO published ICD-10 in 1992.
In comparison Ayurveda which is considered the 5th Veda discusses openly many types of genders. The 2 most prominent books of Ayurveda are Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita. Both books contain a wealth of knowledge about different types of genders, sexualities, and sexual arousal. Both books contain a chapter called Sharira Sthana.
This is the chapter in which both the books use similar words such as tritiya prakriti, nampusakatvam, nastriyatvam, kilba, svarini, panda, shanda, stripumsa to describe the diversity of human sexual behavior.
According to Caraka Samhita’s 4th Unit “Sharira Sthaana,” Chapter 2 “Atulyagotriya Sharira,” Verses 17 – 21 cover “Dwireta or Hermaphroditism.” According to the Translation and Commentary on Caraka Samhita written by P.V. Sharma, Volume III, Critical Notes, p. 358, Cakrapani Datta, an important eleventh-century A.D. commentator on the Caraka Samhita, equates the samskaravahi described in these verses to the homosexual kliba described by Maharshi Sushruta.
According to the book Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex written by Amara Das Wilhelm, if we go into further classification, bisexuals (kami or paksha), transgenders (shandha) and intersex types (nisarga, vakri, trnaputrika, etc.) are all mentioned and described in the voluminous Hindu scriptures of India.
According to Amara Das, Maharshi Sushruta takes it to a whole new level with a mind-boggling number of combinations that are possible by describing 8 types of Napumsa, 5 types of Kilba, 17 types of Shanda, 12 types of Panda, 10 types of Nastriyatwam.
Rishi Vatsayana who wrote the Kama-sutra gave detailed descriptions of how homosexuals enjoyed “paraspara anyonya” with each other. Kama Sutra 2.9.2 states: “Those with a feminine appearance show it by their dress, speech, laughter, behavior, gentleness, lack of courage, silliness, patience, and modesty.”
The 2nd chapter of Kamasutra also talks about Virile Behavior in Women. There, Rishi Vatsayana describes the svairini (independent woman) who engages in aggressive lovemaking with other women, a type of lesbian. In the same chapter in various verses, he talks about women who are either masculine or impotent with men for a variety of reasons under terms such as nastriya, stripumsa, shandhi, etc.
This clearly proves the kind of sex-positive attitudes and discussions that Dharmic Hindus had and still have to this day and how we look at the sexual nature of human beings as something to be celebrated.”
Now let’s get cracking with the myth-busting.
Myth: The LGBTQIA+ community must work with the oppressed castes of India and as these oppressed castes have no other alternative other than Christianity, as it is “so much more open” and “all-inclusive” the LGBTQIA+ community in India must join the Church in their efforts to create “a more open India.”
Fact: I would not even go into the destruction of Pluralism by the church, and how Christianity is one of the most oppressive and illiberal frameworks out there. Also in my previous articles, I have already busted the myth of “oppressed castes” in India.
So with both of those out of the way, Bharat has always been a land of acceptance. As has been established in the case of Jews, Parsis, and many others. In fact, Bharat has paid for this acceptance with Islamic and Christian invasions that occurred upon Bharat which in turn led to imperial, expansionist, and colonial destabilization of Bharat which happened through heinous, criminal means such as loot, murder, and rape.
But, not deviating from the matter at hand, due to this acceptance and mutual respect we respected people having different sexual orientations and lifestyles. We must as Dharmic Hindus continue to do that in the case of our nonbinary brethren while we draw them away from the vicious clutches of the venomous Abrahamic religions.
Now that, that myth is out of my system, let us concentrate on the more common ones. Which are global.
Myth: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people can be identified by certain mannerisms or physical characteristics.
Fact: People who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual come in as many different shapes, colors, and sizes as people who are heterosexual.
Myth: Early Sexual experiences are indicative of one’s sexual orientation as an adult.
Fact: Many lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have early heterosexual experiences, but are still lesbian, gay, or bisexual; many avowed heterosexuals have had sexual contact with members of their own sex, but are still heterosexual.
Myth: Non binary gender people are pedophiles or are somehow involved in pedophilia
Fact: Research by A. Nicholas Groth, a pioneer in the field of sexual abuse of children, shows that this is not so. Groth found that there are two types of child molesters: fixated and regressive. The fixated child molester, the stereotypical pedophile, cannot be considered homosexual or heterosexual because “he often finds adults of either sex repulsive” and often molests children of both sexes. Regressive child molesters are generally attracted to other adults, but may “regress” to focusing on children when confronted with stressful situations. Groth found, as Herek notes, that the majority of regressed offenders were heterosexual in their adult relationships.
The Child Molestation Research & Prevention Institute notes that 90% of child molesters target children in their network of family and friends, and the majority are men married to women. Most child molesters, therefore, are not nonbinary people lingering outside schools waiting to snatch children from the playground, as much as the rhetoric suggests so.
Myth: People become homosexual because they were sexually abused as children or because there was a deficiency in sex-role modeling by their parents.
Fact: No scientifically sound study has definitively linked sexual orientation or identity with parental role modeling or childhood sexual abuse.
The APA although much late to the game of having an open mindset towards nonbinary people noted in a 2000 fact sheet available on the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, that in dealing with gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues, sexual abuse does not appear to be any more prevalent among children who grow up and identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual than in children who grow up and identify as heterosexual.
Similarly, the National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization notes on its website that “experts in the human sexuality field do not believe that premature sexual experiences play a significant role in late adolescent or adult sexual orientation” and added that it’s unlikely that anyone can make another person gay or heterosexual.
Advocates for Youth, an organization that works internationally in the field of adolescent reproductive and sexual health also stated that sexual abuse does not “cause” heterosexual youth to become gay.
In 2009, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a psychologist at the Christian Grove City College, noted in an analysis that “the research on sexual abuse among GLBT populations is often misused to make inferences about causation.”
Myth: We know what causes sexual orientation.
Fact: Many lesbian, gay, and bisexual people know that they are attracted to members of their own sex at an early age, sometimes as young as 13 or 14 years old. Others learn much later in life, in their 30’s, 40’s, or 50’s. But no one is sure what causes particular orientations.
Both of these sentences are wrong:
“Being gay is a sin. As it is a choice why don’t you choose otherwise?”
“Homosexuals can be themselves. Isn’t it just fabulous that, by an amazing coincidence, there is no way to stop it as there is a definitive gene that causes homosexuality?”
As of now, neither is supported by science. There is no definitive answer as of right now. We may never know the cause and it is okay as long as homosexual behavior does not impinge on the rights of others.
Myth: Most lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are not comfortable with their own biological sex; they regard themselves as members of the opposite sex.
Fact: Being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not the same as being transgender.
Myth: All gay, bisexual, men must be feminine and all lesbian women must be masculine. There is always a “man” and a “woman” in these relationships.
Fact: Within nonbinary people, we find all kinds of people:
1) Men who are masculine and prefer “femme” men as they are generally called.
2) Masculine men who prefer other “straight-acting” or “masc” men.
3) Feminine women who prefer other feminine women.
4) Feminine women who prefer women who are a bit more butch.
5) Or even both women and men who prefer men and women who are anywhere on the spectrum from being totally masculine to totally feminine or sometimes even preferring a transgender partner over some who are not transgender.
As discussed previously Ayurveda has 45 plus more variants of all these types of men, women, and people, however, they want to be identified.
Not just Ayurveda, take the example of Vatsayana’s Kamasutra. Kama Sutra 2.9.6 states: “Those who like men but dissimulate the fact and maintain a manly appearance and earn their living as barbers and masseurs.”
In its discussion of oral sex between men, the Kama Sutra uses the term tritiya-prakriti (third sex or nature) to define men with homosexual desires and describes their practices in great detail. It divides such men into two types:
- those with a feminine appearance and demeanor,
- and those having a manly appearance with beards, mustaches, muscular builds, etc.
So this generalization must stop in general.
Myth: If you are a nonbinary person you’ve never had a meaningful relationship or been in love with a “real” man or a “real” woman and that is the reason you “feel” like you are “gay” or “lesbian” or “bisexual” or that this whole “homosexual” or “bisexual” or “transgender” thing is just a phase because you are angry at [insert gender, sexual orientation] and it is just a feeling and it will just pass.
Fact: People keep changing all their life. Sexual orientation sometimes is part of this change. It does not matter how you feel about them. It is important that you understand how a person feels about themselves. Would you ever force a straight person to believe that they are homosexual in reality and are just feeling that they are heterosexual because they haven’t had the right homosexual relationship? So why would you do that to a homosexual, bisexual, or transgendered person?
The most accurate generalization might be this: lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are different from one another in the same ways that heterosexual people are different from one another.
– Mahaguru