Mohnish Malhotra, Ishaan Sethi among other members of the LGBTQ+ community have come out with a hard-hitting video against cyber-bullying and homophobia. The campaign #StrongestTogether aims to encourage the community to unite against online harassment and to come out in support of each other. The video is launched by the Delta App, an Indian homegrown LGBTQ+ community and networking app, to mark the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia & Transphobia 2018 (IDAHOBIT).
The Delta App is a platform that helps members of the LGBTQ+ community in India to find like-minded people, provides a safe community space for users to share, and increased access to support and resources. The video campaign manifests the strength that lies in coming together as a community and uniting against bullying and harassment.
Ishaan Sethi, CoFounder, The Delta App states “We are inundated with hundreds of messages at Delta every day from people across the LGBTQ+ spectrum (& allies!) who reach out to us for guidance, counseling and often just to vent in a judgment-free zone. A majority of these people receive awful hate messages from others who are comfortable harassing people from behind their screens. As an LGBTQ+ business that operates in the online arena, we felt this is something we really should take up.”
The video shows 11 people from the community & its allies highlighting the harassment and challenges faced by them on various social media platforms. The video is an attempt to unite the community on the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. It aims to sensitize and empower the people with the knowledge that we should celebrate our diversity, rather than fearing it.
Ishaan further adds “Social media platforms have made voicing of opinions and sharing experiences easier. Our sole objective through our video campaign #StrongestTogether is to urge the community members to step out and speak up against the faceless abuse they experience because of their identities. With isolation & cyberbullying rampant in the community, this is an effort to make anyone facing this realize that they are not alone, and by sharing our stories with the hashtag #StrongestTogether, we provide a narrative for those who may be unable to express themselves against such bullying.”