A steep learning curve

Growing up in a country where homosexuality is a crime, I must admit that I have no knowledge about LGBT rights (I did not even know what LGBT stands for until I got involved in this project), and why there is a need for such rights.

No offence.

Prior to coming to UK, I did not know anyone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in my country, Malaysia. I had not encountered any LGBT. I did not talk about LGBT. None of my friends did so (at least no one had discussed this topic with me before).

In Malaysia, LGBT rights do not exist. The laws also prohibit same-sex sexual activity - the penalty is up to 20 years in prison and/or fines and whippings.

Hence, getting involved in this project means a steep learning curve for me. When some of my group members were already talking about the "status" of LGBT rights in Newcastle, I was struggling with "Why do some people choose to be LGBT?".

Again, no offence. I do not discriminate LGBT. The lack of knowledge and understanding about this part of the community makes it impossible for me to even like or dislike them in the first place. I was brought up knowing that guys should love girls only and vice versa. Hence, the question of "Why do some people choose to be LGBT?" comes merely from my curiosity.

Homosexuality remains something I have not been able to comprehend since the first time I heard about "gays and lesbians", simply because I did not see the need to talk about this topic in my home country/community where few people are "out" enough to have discussions on LGBT.

Hence, it is with the involvement in this project that I hope I could learn more about the LGBT community and understand them better. I hope I could have all my questions about the LGBT answered. I believe that it is only when I can differentiate the facts from the myths then can I make sense of the whole notion of "diversity" in the society.

Looking forward to the "exploration".

Stay tuned :)