Equality

Equality as a human right begins in the mind of the individual.

Getting married does not make a gay man equal. Adopting a child does not make a lesbian equal. Going to Harvard does not make a black man equal. Running for President does not make a woman equal.

These are simply the outward signs of equality according to human law and convention.

I made myself equal in my own mind and heart when I revolted against a violent and domineering family. I was twenty at the time. It was the beginning of my adulthood and the beginning of my individual practice of personal evolution. I said "No!" to violence, insults and constant attempts to control my life by my parents. Until then, I was depressed, confused and impotent, just the way my family liked me to be.

No amount of mimicking or sincerely imitating an oppressor will give you your own equality and subsequent freedom. This has been the mistake of many conservative political movements for change in the status of minorities. The wealthy heterosexual elite in American society derive great pleasure from these attempts at being like them. But they will not surrender their power and oppression without fear of the consequences of not surrendering those evils. They fear one thing: Loss of money, whether it be in the form of personal property, corporate assets, political power or social power.

The only protection of human rights is constant protest of their abuse in the face of the abusers, those in power. The human rights of all will not be assured until the weakest among us are protected from violence, oppression and poverty. The core of that protest is each individual person's actualization of his/her personal equality. That begins with saying "No!" to those in one's life who hurt, oppress and impoverish.