A practice as archaic as discrimination should have no place in today’s society, yet we see it every day.
Every day people get discriminated against because of their skin colour, gender, sexual orientation and religion.
And I am absolutely shocked by it.
I had assumed that we, as a country, had moved past this a long time ago.
And in a way we have, but we are still clinging to the idea that some people are better than others.
Be that in financial standing, the area in which one lives, the colour of one’s skin, or even religious beliefs.
I read in The Citizen recently that Ugandan leaders are considering passing an ‘anti-gay’ law.
I read this and couldn’t help but feel incredibly saddened and angry, not just as a gay man, but as a person as well.
This idea seems completely ludicrous and regressive to me, personally.
And I’m not just talking about gay rights issues here, this is an issue of human rights.
And it’s not just an issue within the gay community, this is an ongoing issue throughout the world.
In my personal opinion, there should be no cases of discrimination or hate crimes in this day and age.
Schoolchildren, in my opinion, can be particularly nasty.
Whether this is indoctrinated practice as a result of bad parenting or just because they crave attention, no-one can say.
Children will bully other children because they are different or because they dress differently or because of the way they look.
Being different is something that should be embraced and widely accepted, and people who are different should not be discriminated against.
I know that even people belonging to the Christian faith get belittled and mocked by others because of their beliefs and how they choose to practice them.
Everyone has the right to exercise their beliefs in whichever way they choose.
And in regard to a person’s sexual orientation, it has absolutely nothing to do with you what they choose to do behind closed doors anyway.
The fact that discrimination is still so prevalent in today’s society gives me a feeling of hopelessness in terms of the future of our society as a whole.
If people are still so adamant to be cruel to one another over such trivial things then how can we, as a society, hope to move forward into a better, brighter future?
I suppose this might just be me being too much of an idealist, but I dream of a society without discrimination or prejudice towards anyone.
A society in which two men or two women can get married if they please without anyone batting an eyelid.
A society in which someone can wear their traditional clothing without being called nasty names.
I have an immense worry over a society in which no-one really accepts anyone.
Why should it matter what faith you follow or who you choose to sleep next to at night?
Please, don’t misunderstand me, dear reader, it is not my intention to preach or belittle anyone, and I do apologise if that is what you feel I am doing.
No-one is better than anybody else, and just because someone’s beliefs differ from yours does not make them evil.
I believe that change starts with one individual, and from there it creates a ripple effect.
The change you choose to embrace will eventually affect those around you, and maybe they will change the way they feel too.
If this is the case, we will already be on our way to a better, more accepting society.
This concept kind of reminds me of the movie Pay It Forward, and if you haven’t seen it yet I would highly recommend it.
Bearing in mind the movie was released nearly 14 years ago, when Haley Joel Osment was still relatively famous.
If you haven’t seen it then it’s quite feasible that you have been living under a rock.
Anyway, I digress, the point of my argument is that it shouldn’t matter what other people are doing or who they choose to spend their lives with.
We are all living on this giant hunk of rock we call planet Earth and we may as well make it an enjoyable experience.
Not just for everyone else, but for ourselves as well.
