Why should it be that equality is the most evil word of any tongue?  Why should we not praise the word?  Fight for the word?  Live by the word?  Is it not fair that all humans of any respects should not have equal chances and equals rights?  Why is it that in our society, the word ‘equality’ is hated?  People have fought and died time again and again so that everyone in this world my have equality.  I do not care that someone’s skin may be dark or that another’s skin may light, blue eyes or brown eyes, homosexual or not.  Race, gender, sexuality, mental abilities…  Why do we let simple aspects of ourselves define us?   Why do we let it define others?  Being African does not make you inferior to the world, just as being gay should not make you a sin and a crime.

The last time I check, sexuality, ethnicity, belief, gender, mental abilities, and everything else people are discriminated for, do not make them serial killers or rapists. Being gay or straight does not determine whether or not that person will break into my home and steal my valuables.  Someone’s race does not determine whether or not they will mug me.  So why is it then, that we discriminate against people for these things?

Why do we even need to argue and debate about gay and transgender rights?  Are these people human beings?  Yes!  Does their slight difference from the rest of us make them serial killers?  No!  So why should they not have the same rights as serial killers did before they began to hurt people?  Does being African or Latino make someone less intelligent than the rest of the world?  No!  Does being African or Latino make someone a human being?  For crying out loud, yes!  So why can’t these people have the same rights to education as the rest of the world when these people might be able to unlock the answers to the mysteries of the universe?

I ask you now; if I told that my hair was brown, would that cause any discrimination from you towards me?  How about if I told that my eyes are green and that I am straight?  Maybe I should add that I wear glasses.  Has that causes you to judge me at all?  Has my description caused you to throw your nose up into the air thinking that you are better than me?  If the answer is ‘no’, then I am not surprised.

What if I had told you that I have dark skin, and that I’m Muslim?  Did this cause anyone to suddenly judge me?  ‘Oh no, I must be a terrorist!’  Wrong!  And just as I have not done anything wrong, neither have any of those other kids who are discriminated for their race and belief.

Finally, let me change my description a final time.  What if I told you that I am gay and I have Down syndrome?  Is the world now entitled to take away my rights, and bully me?  People ask why it is that gays have to ‘come out’.  Well it is because they fear that their rights they had as a straight person, will be taken away because of the gender they love.  Why does it have to take bravery for people to go through the process to change gender?  Why can the world not wake up and realize that they are the same person, only they feel comfortable in their own bodies?  So if they are the same person, then why can’t they have the same rights?

Who here knows of Allan Turing?  Well let me cut the story short, he save millions of lives by inventing a machine that could crack the Nazi encryption device called the Enigma.  After the war it was discovered that he was a homosexual.  Simply because of that, he lost his rights and had to undergo ‘treatment’.  Of course the current situation isn’t as brutal anymore, but still.  A hero was treated like dirt because of one part of him.  Let me add on to his story, because of his situation after the government found that he was a homosexual, he grew depressed, and his mind became weak due to the medications.  In result, he took his own life.  I do not wish for gays or anyone else to be in a situation so harsh, so unkind that they have even the thought of harming themselves.

I ask you now to stand with me.  Stand with them, and me, and fight for the rights of our equals.  Stand with us.  Stand with equality.  Fight for equality.  I challenge you now, to help us fight for the most beautiful word on this planet.  I challenge you to stand with open arms to whomever has been cast away by those too small minded to see that the human race isn’t comprised of sexualities, and ethnicities, and beliefs, but that the human race is comprised of people.