Sam Smith’s Non-Conformation And The Unwitting Prejudice Of LGBT People

Sam Smith revealing that he is non-binary as regards gender norms caused some ripples both here and on the social media. With both LGBT individuals and heterosexual people abounding with their derision and scorn. Amidst wisecracks such as “Does he have a new album on the pipeline?” and “He’s coming out…AGAIN?!”, I saw something on my Facebook TL that demonstrated the actual realities and effects.

Someone in my friend list, in a rather brief and unassuming post without undue fanfare, confessed to having similar feelings all his life. It was touching and heart-warming that even in the darkest of climes that is the Nigerian society, a sunbeam of light bursts through the clouds of our existence. There are minorities, and within these minorities, there are even smaller ones. And these minorities are existing everywhere – apparently from the glitterati of Hollywood to the reasonably mundane of the everyday Nigerian society.

Of course, there are those who will sneer (I unfriended a young nonreligious guy on my list yesterday who made a tasteless joke about the gender spectrum), and that’s par for the course for humanity when confronted with people whose experiences are seemingly beyond the pale of what they can relate to. And as with all subsets of the grouping that Homo sapiens have evolved to cling to, there will be imposters and those who lie to themselves. However, this should not lead to us to question their very existence. Because if it sounds absurd when a heterosexual person goes, “Man marrying man? That means men will marry goats soon”, then it is just the same as rushing to the safety of your bias by sighing, “Why do these people like confusion? Bloody attention seekers trying to scam the society.” Lots of uninformed, mischievous or bigoted people say similar things about bisexuals. Someone queer I know posted on his Facebook story the picture of a guy wearing makeup with the caption: “I miss the days guys could look like this without saying they are nonbinary, blah, blah.”

How does it harm anyone else that a tiny minority do not want to subscribe to your labels of gender?

The obvious irony is that many of these scoffing opinions are not dissimilar to those propounded by heterosexual folks who seek to delegitimize the LGBT in general.

The whole point of being a part of diversity is to not get stuck in believing that it ends with your type of existence. Humanity is complex and not just one thing. it is constantly evolving, and if you can believe you as whatever you identify with on the gender/sexuality spectrum exist, then you best believe that there will be others whose existences have evolved from yours.

For you to read this all the way to this end implies that you are either LGBT or, hopefully, open-minded and progressive. So, if other subsets of gender and sexuality apart from lesbians, gays and bisexuals are new to you, pick a book! Read articles (you can start from Wikipedia and go from there). If possible, ask those with more information, or better yet, widen your circle to include those who are not just simply LGB individuals and ask them (politely of course ?) about what it is to live in their skin. You will be surprised by how much diversity there is on this spinning rock we call home.

Written by Deadly Darius