As a man who has faced discrimination throughout his life based on his sexual orientation, William Cadwallader decided to formulate a bill of rights based on humanity. The bill of 24 rights is based on the concept that all humans deserve equality – ‘just because we are all leading different lives does not mean that we deserve different rights than someone else’.
The 24 rights vary from freedom of (and from) religion, the right to marry, freedom from cruelty and violence, basic life rights as well as political rights. When OUTinPerth asked Cadwallader what prompted him to pull these rights together, he spoke of a moment of realisation –
‘One day I really just got fed up. I was watching the evening news one night and something came on that just royally set me off, so I turned off the TV and by the end of the night I had this list of 24 rights that I feel I should have in my life.’
Although Cadwallader admits the rights could be viewed as idealistic, he believes they are achievable. When asked what might inhibit that, the answer was simple, ‘our governments, our political leaders, and our religious leaders’.
When posed with the question of marriage equality, Cadwallader spoke frankly – ‘I think way too many people out there are focusing on the genitalia in a relationship, I think what we should be focusing on is what really matters in relationships like honesty and respect.’
Humanity’s Bill of Rights is available from www.amazon.com
