For long the world has isolated and alienated homosexuality and people who conform to that, saying things like it is a disease. To some, it doesn’t even exist and it is just a phase of mind. And the worst part is, even in 2017, people of this world are ready to fight it out over non-existent beings and irrational beliefs, but they cannot accept the neighbour’s son is gay.

The society seems to lash out more, if the person in question is honest, unabashed and happy about it and they cannot embarrass or scare him or her to fall into what they consider “normal”. Even worse, if the person has a partner and the couple is blissfully happy and content in the relationship.

Often it is a big wonder in the non-LGBT community that what are the LGBT couples’ lives are. There are notions and stereotypes, not only about the gay and lesbian people, but also about the way they lead their lives or behave in their relationships.

So what can the LGBT couples possibly be talking about with their loved ones right now?

While there is no reason to think their topics involve anything different than non-LGBT couples, there are a bunch of things that they concern themselves with, which usually others don’t bother about; or rather they are privileged enough to not need to.

• PRIDE PARADES AND FESTIVALS

For example, there are a whole lot of pride parades, marches and gay events coming up in the remaining three months of the year. The pride marches in places like Rio, Buenos Aires, Canberra, Adelaide and Hong Kong are about to take place in November. Before that in October, many cities of North America will be walking the parades in Chicago, Atlanta, Florida and so on. That is a lot of excitement to look forward to.

People who are from places which do not have an immediate pride march or festival, they travel to their nearest location to participate and have fun in such celebrations.

• MOVIES

World television and movies also seem to have embraced the pride of rainbow. This year in the Academy Awards, the movie Moonlight won the Best Picture Award of the night, as well as some others awards. The movie is about an African-American male, his life from childhood to a grown man and his coming in terms with his sexuality. With little dialog and a hard-hitting cinematography, the movie won hearts, accolades and Oscars.

Coming from an organisation that big, it cemented the fact a little bit more that the stories of LGBT people are worth telling in the so-called mainstream forms of art. In the recent years, there have been some really pathbreaking and popular movies and TV series that have paid attention to this. Boys Don’t Cry, Brokeback Mountain, Blue is the Warmest Colour and Carol being some of them.

• TELEVISION SERIES

Among TV serials, When We Rise aired in February, 2017 is one of the latest LGBT shows to be talked about. The story focuses on AIDS and LGBT rights activists champion Cleve Jones, women’s rights leader Roma Guy and her wife, Diane, African-American community organizer Ken Jones, and transgender activist Celia Chung, and follows their changing lives from the Stonewall riots in 1969 through the AIDS epidemic of the ’80s and beyond.

Another popular show pioneering in this genre is the long-running sitcom Modern Family. The show won accolades for its portrayal of same-sex couple Cameron and Mitchell, played by Eric Stonestreet and gay actor, Jesse Tyler Ferguson respectively, as they start a family together.

In 2016, in the show’s eighth season, they broke barriers once more as the pair’s daughter Lily invited her transgender friend Tom over for a playdate, and the role was played by 8-year-old transgender actor Jackson Millarker.

• WEB SERIES

Now with all the online streaming sites like Netflix, Hotstar and the lovely and quite affordable Indian version – Prime Video by Amazon, the opportunities are more. These sites are coming up with their original productions, and being streamed on the internet, the storytellers are getting much more scope to speak what is in their minds and also the freedom to do so.

So these streaming sites, along with the mass-favourite YouTube are giving the LGBT community and its allies a much bigger platform to speak their heart out. Few of the very popular shows giving voice to the LGBT community are Orange is the New Black, Transparent, Sense 8 and so on.

While many prejudiced people might want to dislike these movies and shows, they sure form an integral part of any LGBT couple’s tête-à-tête over dinner, because they can relate and empathise with the stories and struggles lot more than the others.

• BLOGS, SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITES

While we are on the topic of internet, there are also quite a few blogs and websites dedicated towards the LGBT community which are followed, read and discussed by them also. The LGBT Community, AfterEllen, Pink News and The Advocate – Transgender are some of the very popular ones which provide news and other random articles related to the LGBT community on a daily basis.

Not to mention the large number of population on social media like Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. While there is a huge population who are ready with hate comments in one hand and the keypad with another to start a war on the platforms, there are also those with savage comebacks and sarcasm.

The pages dedicated to the same cause often upload screenshots of such keyboard wars, and to be honest it must be quite hilarious and refreshing for the LGBT couples to see that their battles are not their own. They are being fought by others too, with grit and wit.