Equal Rights For All Men and Women

School assignment: Human Rights Essay An essay about equal rights for the LGBT community

Human rights are violated around the world on a day-to-day basis. Regardless of if you are in a modernized society like the United States or a developing country like Africa, basic human rights are at stake. While the violations vary in America and Africa, every human in every country deserves equal rights. One of these issues that seems to be the most relevant in all societies is equal rights for the LGBT community. Its relevancy is demonstrated through the lack of rights to the large LGBT community, in all countries, and must be addressed if we, as a people, want to continue to entertain the belief in equality for all men and women.

The Declaration of Independence clearly states that all men have the right to pursue happiness. When did “all men” come to mean “those who identify with the gender their birth certificate states and only has an attraction to those of the opposite sex”? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of all is “the whole amount, quantity, or extent of; every member or individual component of.” Therefore, “all men” should include those who do not identify with the gender on their birth certificates and those who are not necessarily attracted to the opposite gender. What gives us the right to deny happiness to the LGBT community? Are they not part of “all men”? Because of people that are extreme with their religions and extreme conservatives, the LGBT community is being denied their rights. People that try to push their beliefs on others are causing the LGBT community to be denied their rights. Also, people that believe in equal rights for the LGBT community are not helping very much because they don’t do anything to help. If the supporters of equal rights would stop talking about supporting equal rights and start actively working to provide equal rights, the United States would be speeding towards equal rights for all.

One of the largely discussed violations of equal rights for all is the right to an education in a safe environment. Over the years, the violations have decreased, but they are still very much present. In the fifth grade, Seth Walsh, a young member of the LGBT community in Tehachapi, California, began to be bullied for his sexual orientation. As he got older, the harassment worsened, and though his mother, Wendy, tried to get school district officials to do something to stop it, the abuse just continued to get worse. Seth was afraid to use the restroom or go in the boy’s locker room at school. Not only were students harassing him, school administrators sometimes participated in harassing him. “One teacher allegedly called Seth ‘fruity’ in front of an entire class.” Eventually the abuse became too much for Seth. On September 19, 2010 Seth hung himself from a plum tree in his backyard. On September 28, he passed away. On July 1, 2011, the U.S. Departments of Justice and of Education passed Seth’s Law in California and the Student Non-Discrimination Act in the US Congress

One organization that is trying to help is the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). In their 33 years of work, HRC has become “America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.” Some actions they have taken to the LGBT community include communicating the message that the Federal Marriage Amendment was discriminatory and unnecessary and would undermine the Constitution, advocacy work to get President Barack Obama to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law, and starting the Welcoming Schools program. Those looking to support LGBT rights can help HRC by getting a membership with them and donating regularly. HRC is promoting awareness of these equality issues by introducing programs and projects that help to bring the LGBT and straight community together and fix the bridge between the two. They also work hard with other LGBT equality groups to push the government to pass laws supporting LGBT rights.

While there are many more instances of violations similar to harassment at school, that does not mean we as humans should idly stand by. Rather, it is imperative that we, as a nation that believes in equality for all men, support the Human Rights Campaign and all of the other campaigns and groups in their endeavor to eradicate this atrocity.“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”