<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you sometimes think we\u2019re lulled into a false sense of security and even a happy kind of all\u2019s right with the world, because there are rules and laws in place that say we\u2019re equal and should be treated equally?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Equality legislation is a feature of our progressive sensibilities and societies, and most of us rightly feel proud to be a part of that. But\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just because people in a government somewhere all cheered \u2018the aye\u2019s have it, hear hear\u2019, there were probably quite a few \u2018nays\u2019 as well who weren\u2019t at all pleased. And just because other people wrote it down and made it a law, doesn\u2019t mean everyone else everywhere agrees. And just because it\u2019s the law, doesn\u2019t mean everyone\u2019s going to obey it, or that there aren\u2019t ways to subvert that law without appearing to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact when something as fundamental as equality has to be enshrined in law, we probably need to examine why it has to be. Because, if it isn\u2019t arising organically then there are serious issues that aren\u2019t being addressed, and won\u2019t be, because no-one is even looking for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because no-one\u2019s looking it also makes it much easier for the people who don\u2019t agree, won\u2019t agree, will never agree, to find sinister and underhand ways and means of persecuting those they perceive as different, underserving, not even human. All we\u2019ve really done is turn the macro aggression which is at least, highly visible into micro aggression. Which although smaller, is nonetheless insidiously and vindictively powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simple things like \u2018oh, didn\u2019t you get the message\u2019 about the important presentation you had done all the work for and were somehow excluded from. Or \u2018sorry, are you sure you made a reservation. I can\u2019t see your name\u2026\u2019; or \u2018while you\u2019re qualified, you don\u2019t have the specific (unspecified) skillset that we are aiming for’ and \u2018we thought in this instance we\u2019d go with someone who needed less training\u2019. It can be a demoralising downward spiral affecting every aspect of someone\u2019s life. For a child it could be the shove, and the \u2018sorry, I didn\u2019t see you there\u2019, getting picked last every single time, not getting the invitation to the party that everyone else is going to (again), and then being called out as if it\u2019s your own fault with a \u2018haha\u2026 why didn\u2019t you say something?\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s covert, sometimes hidden, even from the awareness of the people spouting the words, because they are presented with such reasonableness. And in that reasonableness, it is almost possible to convince yourself that you aren\u2019t doing anything wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this strange world where there\u2019s no (apparent) discrimination anymore, we have high profile icons: entertainers, movie star, CEOs, celebrities, who we hold up as proof that equality is alive and well. Sadly, the flip side is that it must therefore, be your own deficiencies which are causing the stagnation of your career, or your selection for the job, or your inclusion in humanity. We use tokens for this as well. The token black, the token woman, the token gay who point to what a good job we\u2019re all doing with the equal opportunity palaver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BUT what is more frightening now, is that the micro is morphing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right wing ideologies are re-energising those people who were never in agreement but had kept their silence if not their peace. The underground war against gays, blacks, indigenous, women, the different, that had been going on in isolated minds and small secret enclaves, is poking its head out into the light again, gaining traction as more heads pop up out of the mud. A different kind of me-too movement? I don\u2019t know. But the strength in numbers of like-minded bigotry must be seductive. The anti-gay rhetoric is growing in many places along with the threat and deed of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Call me an idealist, but all I can say, is please don\u2019t forget to honour the past. Remember what happened to the Oscar Wildes the Alan Turings. Learn what happened to the George Duncans and the Scott Johnsons and the hundreds of others whose lives and deaths inspired my book The Outing<\/em><\/strong>. On their honouring, we can build the type of world we actually do want. One where we don\u2019t have legislation to protect our freedom to be who we are, because we don\u2019t need it. One where we can smile while we honour the past because we\u2019ve brought something special from it to the present. And one where we extend the honour into the future as a place where finally there is no longer a place for fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Outing is a fictional memoir. Robert\u2019s story encapsulates life in Queensland (Australia) in the 1980s. The life of a gay man when being gay was illegal, when blatant police and political corruption sanctioned violence and prejudice. He almost manages to convince himself he\u2019s happy until the man who would have taken his heart comes back into his life and then disappears, and Robert\u2019s quest for justice becomes tied to a quest for his own identity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Different Kind of Me-Too Do you sometimes think we\u2019re lulled into a false sense of security and even a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"right-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30873","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30873"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31427,"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30873\/revisions\/31427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabianfoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}