Thursday 26 May 2016

Lifestyle Disadvantages

Yesterday a Pakistani transgender activist known as Alesha died after being shot eight times.  The hospital to which she had been admitted effectively denied her appropriate care by shuttling her between male and female wards, and the doctors made light of the situation by offering their phone numbers to Alesha's friends and demanding sex.

How long will it be before people are treated as human beings instead of being ridiculed and discriminated against due to their looks, beliefs, choices, or identity?

At this rate, I probably won't see that happen in my lifetime.

I consider myself an "ally": I am straight/agnostic but I have friends who are gay, lesbian, transfan, Christian, Muslim, vegetarian... the list goes on.  I respect them for living their lives the way they see fit (even if I happen to disapprove of said lifestyle) as long as they don't try to impose it on me or use it as an excuse to hurt others.

Every time I hear news of someone being harrassed due to their skin colour or denied services because they don't speak French, it infuriates me.  We all deserve better.

The mess in the United States with a racist, misogynistic, hatemongering buffoon poised to become a political leader speaks volumes about how lacking the educational system is and how far we need to go to fix it.

This quagmire of non-inclusiveness is not what our forefathers fought and died for to protect.

2 comments:

  1. I am saddened and angered at the same time. Sometimes we take for granted that in Canada people are more accepting of LGBT individuals, but even here there are still people who experience discrimination in schools, when accessing health care, and when dealing with police and the legal system.

    I am proud that in Canada we are making great strides towards equality and dignity for everyone. But stories like this remind me there's still such a long way to go.

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  2. It is very sad. But, there are people out there that do only judge people by their action. That is all that really matters. I do wish that people would realize we are all connected and should be treated equally.

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