What makes people so afraid to be different, or even worse afraid of people who are different? They want to walk through life trying to make sure no one notices them - it effects who they are friends with and how they behave. These people long to be ‘normal’ but I’ve never been able to work out exactly what is normal?
Difference is what makes us all special. We are all different in some way. This difference can be extreme - it may be our race, it may be our sexuality - it may though be the colour of our eyes, our hair, a scar on our face. God it could even be the way we vote.
Yet the fight to help the world understand difference, the fight for equality can get lost in a misunderstanding that actually it’s about removing the difference. Rather than saying - ‘accept me for who I am’ we try to say ‘accept me as I’m just like you’.
Even worse this sometimes leads us to say actually rather than fighting for the rights of those who are different we should make sure we try to represent everyone. So the fight for gender equality is no longer about rights for women, the movement around sexual orientation should include representation for heterosexuals.
Now some of you may agree with this but personally I can’t. Down this road leads the argument that we are asking for ‘special rights’ - I’m not after positive discrimination, I’m after positive action. I’m after the world saying actually everyday is white male heterosexual day so today we’re going to do something for you.
I’m proud to be different, I don’t want to be like everyone else. But I don’t want people to be allowed to say I’m less than them because I’m different. And I want to think that out there in law, in our workplaces and on the streets people are willing to stand up for my right to be different.
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