Friday 29 January 2016

Constitutional

I take cabs fairly often. When we are on our way, I usually try to strike up a conversation with the cab driver, though some are unwilling. It's my insatiable craving for meaningful conversation that makes me unable to resist trying at least. For the most part, the talks are about weather. I live in newfoundland after all and the weather could change once or twice in the middle of a ride from the grocery store. Even so I can usually tease out something interesting, an opinionated talk about climate change, or taste in music, but every now and then, like with any human in life, I stumble upon a great talk with a cab driver.

One ride a few weeks ago ended up falling on what I do for a living. I started to give him a quick explanation, saying something like "I write and give speeches about human rights and..." when he chimed in "there's no such thing." I tacitly agreed and moved on.

It borrowed into my head like an ear worm however. The reason being, he is absolutely correct. I started to wonder "What the hell have I been doing with the writing and the talking?" The answer came to me quickly but I had to map out, in my own head, the space in between question and answer. Which, of course, leads me here. So, if I may...

As I said, the driver is absolutely correct. There is no such thing as "human rights". That doesn't seem to ring true to most people. To most people, suggesting they have no rights would, at the very least, cause an outburst of some sort. What do you mean "I" have no rights? I have the right to vote, to live without threat of violence, to pursue my own goals, etc. These are thought of as inalienable, inherent in us as living human beings.

If that were true, then it would have always been true. Ask the countless slaves current and in history if they feel equality was always a right. Ask women, current and in history, if they feel like they always had the right from violence, or to vote. Ask the LGBTQ2 community, current or in history, if they have the right of freedom of liberty, or of thought.

Hell, ask the residence of Flint, Michigan how their right to clean water is doing these days.

It's obvious what I'm getting at here. Every right or freedom at any given time or place in the world has been given to or taken from one group or another by another group. They, essentially, are not real. In the sense that we had to make it up, like politics. Politics didn't just fall out of the sky, people (men, let's be honest) sat down and created it. They made it up, and we continue to make it up as we go along.

I have thought this way for a long time, though not all of my life. Quite a few years ago, long before transitioning and when I was still struggling with being transgender in a world that seemed to hate transgender people I wrote something about the freedoms people think we have and I thought we didn't. I attacked all of our supposed freedoms, including freedom of thought, and the foundation I was standing on was my own lack of freedom to be the person I wanted to be. I, for one, knew for certain that many of the rights and freedoms that most people assume are inherent in being alive didn't apply equally to everyone. Something that is hard to see from the side of privilege.

Every single one of these privileges we take for granted have been fought for either with sword or proclamation by people who could see the truth. The truth is, there are no inherent, inalienable, "god given" rights. There are only privileges that people have carved out for themselves during the struggle called "life".

I still believe this, and what I wrote those years ago. The difference between then and now is now I have the fire in me to fight for my own privileges and for those like me. I feel like my poker hand in life has developed a finely tuned sense of inequality. While I guess it is possible I would have taken the path of just being interested in myself and fixing my own problems, what happened was I became sensitive to others as well.

There are many fights to be had, not everyone is a fighter I get that, and each individual can't take on them all. If you take a moment to consider all of the injustice and inequality in the world it can be overwhelming. Too many people are happy to plug through their life without lifting their head and recognizing what is happening around them. You only have one life to live and it is unforgivably short. You can choose to be the pilot fish that is just along for the ride, or you can be the shark taking a bite out of life. I have chosen to be a shark.

Transgender and sex workers rights is what I have centered my attention on. The battles are not easy, but living as a transgender person through the times when it would have been unacceptable to be one, and into the time where it has become less unacceptable has taught me how to dodge and weave like a prize fighter. There is one undeniable force those pushing for rights and equality have on their side and that is history. History has proven to look favourably upon those who support or fight for the wellbeing of themselves and the people akin to them and looks with harsh scrutiny upon those who attempt to deny those people of their wellbeing.

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