Education is Power
Oh, the power of the Internet.
Pakistani blogger and artist Eiynah 'Nicemangos' wrote 'My Chacha Is Gay' - a short blog post about a young boy and his gay uncle - earlier this year. Within a matter of days the post was shared over 10,000 times and Eiynah decided to start crowdfunding (a means of fundraising via the internet) to raise enough money to publish the book. Now the colourful, brilliant storybook has been released in print and it's absolutely wonderful.
The story is simple; Ahmed is a young boy learning about his culture and about his Pakistani and Muslim identities. He happens to have a gay uncle, and the story promotes tolerance and the acceptance of diverse families, all in an easy-to-read, child-friendly format. However, as Eiynah told BuzzFeed during an interview: “It may be a children’s book – I’ve broken it down and simplified it – but it’s definitely not just for children.'
Stories like this promote equality in a simple manner, and explain same-sex relationships for exactly what they are - loving partnerships. Due to the target audience, it encourages the teaching of 'social acceptance and tolerance at a younger age'. The author has previously spoken about how stories like this allow for social change, and hopes to one day publish the work in Pakistan, where it is currently banned. It won’t be easy, and Eiynah has already received hate mail and death threats over the book.
Other countries, however, are moving in the right direction, and ‘My Chacha Is Gay’ has already been translated into nearly 10 languages.