YouTube Vs TikTok | Is queer community insignificant in India?

As you all must be aware of online war going on between the content creators of two big platforms ‘YouTube’ and ‘TikTok’. Content creators of both platforms can be seen roasting and demeaning each other on regular basis.

Recently, A famous Indian Youtuber named ‘CarryMinati’ uploaded a video where he roasted ‘TikTok’ content creator ‘Amir Siddhiqui’ on the basis of his TikTok videos, personal life, social media posts and gender.

He even used homophobic slurs like “Meetha”, “TikTok ki Betiya”, “Ander se Khol ke Baja denge” etc in his video.

Surprisingly, this video became most loved within few hours of its upload with 6.6 crore views and 1 crore likes which is record breaking proving that LGBT rights are still a first world problem for this country.

The video later was reported by several people on the grounds of how offensive it was to LGBTQ community. And thankfully it was deleted by YouTube as it violated their policy on harassment and bullying.

But a huge set of people started showing their support for their favourite Youtuber and posting using #JusticeForCarry. Even famous influencers like Bhuvan Bam and Ashish Chanchlani came in support of him.

Later, Carry uploaded another video in which he expressed how bad he felt about his video getting deleted. This video also got views in millions in no time. He mentioned in that video that he was still unable to figure out what was wrong with his previous video.

This is where I feel the major problem lies. People think it is completely okay to use homophobic slurs to demean someone and even after they are told on their face that it is maligning the community’s identity, they turn their ear deaf. This clearly shouts how homophobia has become so conventional in the country that no one even finds it unethical, not even on being told repetitively.

First, you address TikTok users by terms “Transgender” or “Gay” as an insult. Later when your video got deleted, instead of realising your mistake and apologising to the community, you are openly saying that you still couldn’t get what was wrong with your video even after multiple articles circulating on social media about your exact words and what harm does it do to the community.

Had it been the mindset of a layman, I would not have got this scared but CarryMinati has more than 18 million people who follow him and support him. In a way, we can say they share his views.

Even when his video got deleted, his supporters were more tensed about the sweat involved in making a video rather than the plight of a community who has been insulted since ages. Since when sweat involved in a YouTube video becomes more precious than existence and respect of a whole community? When your “identity” is used as an insult to others, what else is left in your existence. In which category we are putting this community into?

This is where I feel how insignificant this community is for people.  This is not about a single video but how people’s mindset is in general. Calling someone “chakka” or “meetha” when you want to insult them automatically proves how we consider members of LGBTQ as second-class citizens.

Rishi Raj, a queer rights activist shared a video on “The quint” revealing how people commented the same “Mithai ki dukan” slur on his Instagram pictures indicating how these words instill and keep on re-instilling that queer community is such a nuisance and people use these words to justify their homophobia. On a deeper insight, it is empowering homophobia in an indirect manner. He also talked about how it's already difficult for queer community to survive on a daily basis in a society which sees them with a different eye and how high suicide rates are common in the community.

The bigger problem lies in the fact that we do not want to realise what we are doing. We normalise it as it is what it is supposed to be. Even when someone tries to raise these points, we rubbish their argument by calling them names like “Liberal” or “feminist” as if its “anti-national” to be open minded (that is the literal meaning of liberal).

I feel this problem can be tackled better if influencers like CarryMinati are more aware and sensitive towards alternate communities and understand their plight. As an artist, it is their responsibility to create responsible art rather than merely focusing on what sells. This will help their juvenile followers to understand that oppression of a community is nowhere close to any form of entertainment. One cannot bully a community using derogatory language in the name of fun or expression of speech.

After this whole incidence, Amir Siddiqui also uploaded a YouTube video in which he stood up against all of this and appealed his viewers to stand up against bullying by using #AmirAgainstCyberBullying on social media. He even apologised for his previous mistakes and talked about trying to be a better person, which I feel is commendable. Every creator must realise that it is not funny to a normalise homophobia in any direct or non-direct way.

It’s 2020, high time we unshackle all those meaningless chains of orthodox conditioning and open our eyes to more responsible, aware and accepting as a society.