I first wrote this reflection for a human rights class. Although the events took place many years ago, I remember them as though it were yesterday.
Robert was a thin, cockeyed, odd-looking boy who never smiled. One weekend, I learned that we had mutual friends. The following Monday, I approached him about it and that’s how we became acquainted. I learned how personable and friendly he was. We always greeted one another with smiles, chatted in the cafeteria or when our departures from school coincided.
Springtime brought with it boys from nearby high schools who sought a view of students at dismissal from our practically all-girls art school. They were harmless and we ignored them. One afternoon, Robert had left the building ahead of me; we did not get a chance to speak. He was walking alone several yards ahead. Suddenly and seemingly out of no where, a group of boys charged at Robert and proceeded to attack him. The slaps after slaps after slaps to his head were loud enough to cause everyone within earshot to stop and gasp. Meanwhile, Robert was bent over near the ground trying to protect his head. This was my most vivid memory of witnessing someone’s human rights being violated. I was shaken, I felt helpless and sick to my stomach.
Although UDHR Article 18 articulated an individual’s right to freedom of conscience and, therefore, to behave accordingly, Article 29 gave that individual a responsibility to respect the rights of others. In the instant case, a moral person would have likely believed that treating others as one would have wanted to be treated as a prudent rule of thumb when considering whether to engage the behavior supra. Since these were teenagers, however, they most likely allowed any subjective values they had or may have had about what was right and good, to become outweighed by peer pressure and a desire to fit in.
In the meantime, Robert’s human rights pursuant to, inter alia, UDHR Articles 1-7, had been violated. Consistent with UDHR Article 30, the purpose of the rule of law in American society is primarily to protect the health, safety, welfare and rights of citizens. Ethical considerations are in keeping with this purpose. Robert had the legal right to take himself to the nearest police station, file a police report, press charges against his assailants, and have his day in court. The problem here was this: the incident had taken place nearly three years after Stonewall. Legal remedies notwithstanding, the NYPD, and by extension the state, lacked the ethical and political will to protect him
In her book, Evidence of Hope, Kathryn Sikkink reminded us that advancement of human rights takes time, persistence and occurs in unexpected ways; Stonewall was the tip of a socially significant iceberg. The persistence of the LGBTQXYZ Community has resulted in openly “other” politicians, judges, lawyers, actors, educators, etc. Citing Theodore Parker, Martin Luther King Jr., reminded us that, “ the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” While there is more work to be done, the fight for justice has finally produced a generation people with the moral fortitude speak out, support and protect the rights of members of the Queer Community.
اسمي جنيس