Making room — human rights are not a pie

Making room for trans people in society.

Please note: these views are my own and do not reflect Speak Up For Women policy. They are by no means comprehensive — rather a few thoughts and an evergreen offer of conversation and conflict resolution.

We are destined, by our nature as social animals with freewill, to disagree about everything large and small. We disagree about whether there is a god or not, or if there is one god or multiple gods, or if it is my god or your god. We disagree about whether the state should have the right to end a person’s life because they ended someone else’s. Or whether we should have the right to end our own life with medical assistance. We even disagree about whether we are a disagreeing. We cannot agree on what is funny, what is art, what is fair, and certainly we have shown over and over that we cannot come to a single consensus on what is offensive. And of course, the ultimate of all disagreements…whether coriander is a herby abomination or a pleasant addition to a meal.

It is important, therefore, to acknowledge that disagreeing cannot be inherently bad, as it is inevitable. We must accept that it is part of life and often a very helpful part of living in a society. We must learn to disagree in productive or at least less anti-social ways. We must know when it is imperative to continue to argue and when it is time to cut our losses. And, hardest of all, it is vital that we find ways to compromise on our positions and resolve the conflicts that result from…