JNIAS SPA students' skit on LGBT community makes us all think

A three day college fest "Avirbhav – The new beginnings" was celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm at JNIAS SPA, College of architecture, Banjara hills, Hyderabad. The institution is headed by the founder member Dr D Suresh, Director, Harshal Shinde and Principal I/C Shalini Kakani.

Initiated by the Principal I/C Shalini Kakani and organised by faculty member David Dawson, the fest paved way to a spectrum of events like fun games, dumb charadas , face painting, wall art, graffiti etc. which gave the students of architecture, a platform to demonstrate their hidden talents and creativity with great fervor and excitement.

The main focus of the fest was the vibrant and bold fashion show and a skit that was staged in support of LGBT+ community- the much discriminated and differently looked upon gender.

When the students expressed their desire to voice their pent up emotions and wanted to convey loud and a strong message through a fashion show theme and a skit purely dedicated to the LGBT community, their concepts were welcomed and encouraged, and they were allowed to go ahead, break the barriers and 'Be what they wanted to Be'.

The drama stirred up their inner most emotions and a couple of them even broke down while enacting their roles on the stage, pouring out their bottled up turmoil. It was a silent scream to the world, fighting for their rights to be accepted and respected for what they are. Bullying, mocking and discrimination of this queer group who are often judged based on their sexual orientation, lowers their self-esteem leading to withdrawal, depression, suicidal tendencies, and drug abuse and self-harm.

This event was an eye-opener to the rest of the society which often resorts to regressive exclusion of this community. Driven by the stigma and prejudice, fear and rejection they struggle battling the wrong notions which are deep rooted in our cultural beliefs about their gender roles, which adversely affects their physical and psychological health.

Sensitizing the society, peer groups and parents through such themes and events hosted by educational institutions will ensure their inclusion, bringing awareness by providing an equitable quality education.

The fun-filled activities during the three day fest opened new avenues for its students, letting their guards down and celebrate the moments that included forbidden debate topics, often seen as a taboo like "Why is sex a taboo topic?" among other topics, where the student groups handled them with a sense of maturity and responsibility, shedding their inhibitions.

Apart from producing efficient professionals, architectural education should emerge as a beacon of hope and celebration of identity, culture, values and freedom. JNIAS SPA has taken a step ahead to actively endorse inclusivity and equality for all walks of human race by challenging the general notions of age old belief systems and encourage the students to take over the world with confidence, courage and grit.