Amidst the moral and ethical debates that are discussed under finely lit rooms by people sitting on comfortable leather chairs, adorning fine silk, this debate never sees the light of the day: Transgenders and their rights. Their right to express, to freedom, to speak, to be a part of society but most importantly to be accepted as an equal human being.
What is the greatest achievement of mankind in the 21st century? Would you rather listen to a hypocritical political leader vouching to fight for your right while comfortably lounging in his multistory house, or would you support a common person who comes from no money but it adamant and actually works?
What is the root cause of our hypocrisy? Where does the stem generate? Why do we feel the need to have this debate in the 21st century where people like Elon Musk are looking at the stars? How did we degenerate so much instead of learning and growing? What have we truly contributed towards the fight for the basic rights of Transgenders?
If you ask a common person whether they are good or bad, they will undoubtedly either say they are good or somewhere in the grey area. And if you ask them what do they think of Transgenders they will inevitably either bring in religion or society or claim to be progressive in order not to appear “bad.” What is this compulsion we have to appear moral and good? Is it this need to appear good in front of the world that makes us hypocritical? Would we still be fighting for their rights and supporting them and welcome them in our homes behind the façade of social media?
Every time we claim a moral high ground by calling out the other person that “don’t be judgmental” we are being hypocrites ourselves. Every time we ask someone not to generalize, we are being hypocritical. Every time we interrupt someone and say don’t be so negative, we are being hypocritical. Because we say all these things to someone as though we have never been judgmental, as though we have never generalized, as though we have never been negative. So how do you point out the hypocrisy? For starters, you accept that you are as hypocritical as the next person. There is a difference between advocating for someone’s right in front of a crowd you need validation from and actually fighting for it.
The more access we had to knowledge and information, the more we flourished in our hatred towards others; fueling that fire until it starts engulfing everyone around us. Anything and everything that doesn’t fit our moral mold has to go. We are intolerant, yet claim to be open minded. We are hateful, yet claim to be supportive and sensitive. All that information and knowledge is no good to anyone if we can’t use it to grow as a person, as a fellow human. Until and unless a transgender person walks by you and feels safe, until and unless you give them the space and respect that they deserve as fellow humans, until and unless you stop playing God and hand out verdicts, this fight must go on.
