Living Within, Subverting, or Rewriting the Script

Abstract

Discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ community has an impact on mental health that is described using the minority stress theory by Meyer. The authors are mental health professionals in India who hypothesize that in India, families are the dominant source of minority stress. They explain how in India's collectivistic framework, families are cis-hetero-patriarchal and contribute to distal stress through direct and indirect violence and proximal stress through forcing concealment, internalized homo and trans-negativity, perceived rejection, and internalized guilt. LGBTQIA+ individuals in India use three pathways to manage minority stress: living within the script (i.e., heterosexual marriages and dual lives), subverting the script (i.e., trying to fit queer relationships in a societally acceptable framework), or rewriting the script (i.e., choosing to live alone, having families of choice, and practising non-traditional relationship structures). Legal provisions that aid and inhibit these are discussed. Ways to build community resilience are suggested.