Without prejudices

In Asia, the fight against discrimination based on gender, sexual preference, ethnicity and physical abilities is discovering new frontiers to be crossed every day.

In India the third gender, that of trans, is regularly indicated on passports and train tickets, previously limited only to the definition of male or female. For the Japanese and Chinese, the trans, gay and lesbian community represents an important and growing slice of the tourism and real estate market of Asian megacities. The Bangkok Post informs that the complaints of discrimination against different people are increasing, but at the same time those minorities win all the causes of discrimination; Buddhist monks no longer have any doubts in celebrating same-sex marriages with joy. In 2006 Kenji Yoshino * brilliantly illustrated the sort of "cultural revolution" needed to accept and celebrate differences in his book Covering.
The hidden assault on our civil rights (Coverage: the hidden assault on our civil rights), which represents a milestone in the transformation of personal and collective attitudes to human rights and a real historical manifesto on the civil rights of the future.

In his book, * Yoshino argues that seeking coverage can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Although we have come to a consensus against discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, income, religion and disability, we often still deny equal treatment to people who refuse to minimize their diversity. Minorities are pushed to assimilate, for example, to "act in white" by changing their names, languages ​​or cultural practices, as if they too were whites, Westerners and Christians. Professional women are told to "show masculine psychological attributes or play the men's game."

Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection or even to live in sexual chastity and abstinence. Devotees are instructed to minimize expressions of faith such as external signs and celebrations, or to keep quiet about the rights of those who do not have faith, and people with disabilities are urged to hide the aids that allow them to live better. As we all experience the challenge of hiding realities of rights abuse, we can all make common cause around a new civil rights paradigm based on our desire for authenticity, a desire that unites us rather than separates us.

The thesis that believes that certain differences are a form of mental illness or are "objectively disordered" completely denies art. 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The act of raising the borders between us, between different people and between all brothers of mankind, and the act of plundering our common goods and limiting their use, are fraudulent acts, they are counterfeits of authentic human rights.
Let's face it and we will be able to better understand and help those who seek to free themselves from discrimination.

* Kenji Yoshino (1969) Japanese-American, is a professor of constitutional law at the Law School of New York University. He has published several essays on the subject of rights and has won several awards for his academic activity which draws deeply on his personal experiences as an Asian American gay. He lives in New York with her husband and two children.

Sandro Calvani
NP April 2021