Today, just after 10am, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that marriage between two men or two women is just as legal as a marriage between a man and a woman. I know this, because I was watching the live blog run by the SCOTUS staff when it was announced. The marriage between my two friends (who happen to be lesbians) is now legally binding in every state in the US. Now they can have civil rights like my parents, and visit each other in the hospital if one of them gets sick. This is important to them, and to me (even though I'm straight), but not immediately helpful to understanding or learning about autism.
So why do I bring it up? Because there are a lot of fights for equality and fairness going on right now, and this is a victory. I have no idea who posited it first, but I was first introduced to the idea in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode is most well known for Picard shouting, "There are four lights!" but Picard also comments on a very important concept of equality.
In the episode, Picard is taken captive by the current bad-guy race, the Cardassians. He is then questioned and then tortured, because that is obviously the best thing to do to war captives (sarcasm). He has one torturer, who seems to enjoy talking philosophy while he does his job. At one point, the torturer even brings his little daughter near the battered, exhausted Picard. She asks her father if humans have mothers and fathers like she does, and the torturer replies that they do, but that they don't love their children, and that they're not the same as Cardassians. After she's left, Picard expresses his surprise that she was allowed to come in the torture room, the place where she knows he inflicts suffering on people. The torturer replies that she's been taught that the enemies of the Cardassians deserve their fate.
Picard replies this: "When children learn to devalue others, they can devalue anyone, including their parents." I think this is very true... but more than that, I think it touches on an important broader concept: If one group in society is devalued, any group can be, and all are lessened by it.
Gay and lesbian people are one of those devalued groups, only now achieving some semblance of equality. Another one? People on the autism spectrum. Or indeed, any person with a disability or mental illness. Society values the healthy, and the attractive. There's nothing attractive about a panic attack, and nothing healthy about an autoimmune disorder. But neither of those things are the person's fault. They simply are. Just like people are born gay or straight, I was born autistic. This isn't my fault, and I shouldn't be penalized for it. But I am, and constantly.
If my "normal" act isn't perfect, people avoid me. Make excuses to leave. I can't stand big parties for very long, because of the strain of dealing with so many unknown people. I have to take extra care with my energy, because it's a very limited resource. I need extra soundproofing in my walls so I can have a quiet place to go, free of external distractions, just so I can recuperate from work and people every day. None of this is my fault, and ideally, I wouldn't have to pretend to be neurotypical. I wouldn't have to wonder how I actually am and what I'm like when I'm not trying to bluff the world into thinking I'm just like them.
One day, maybe, there'll be a civil rights case for autism, and other disabilities. And that will be a cause I'll fight for, the same as I've raised my voice for equal marriage. We are all less if one of us is made less. Simply allowing segregation or inequality of any kind degrades our very humanity.
So celebrate equal marriage with me. It's one less glaring inequality that lessens us as human beings.
So why do I bring it up? Because there are a lot of fights for equality and fairness going on right now, and this is a victory. I have no idea who posited it first, but I was first introduced to the idea in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode is most well known for Picard shouting, "There are four lights!" but Picard also comments on a very important concept of equality.
In the episode, Picard is taken captive by the current bad-guy race, the Cardassians. He is then questioned and then tortured, because that is obviously the best thing to do to war captives (sarcasm). He has one torturer, who seems to enjoy talking philosophy while he does his job. At one point, the torturer even brings his little daughter near the battered, exhausted Picard. She asks her father if humans have mothers and fathers like she does, and the torturer replies that they do, but that they don't love their children, and that they're not the same as Cardassians. After she's left, Picard expresses his surprise that she was allowed to come in the torture room, the place where she knows he inflicts suffering on people. The torturer replies that she's been taught that the enemies of the Cardassians deserve their fate.
Picard replies this: "When children learn to devalue others, they can devalue anyone, including their parents." I think this is very true... but more than that, I think it touches on an important broader concept: If one group in society is devalued, any group can be, and all are lessened by it.
Gay and lesbian people are one of those devalued groups, only now achieving some semblance of equality. Another one? People on the autism spectrum. Or indeed, any person with a disability or mental illness. Society values the healthy, and the attractive. There's nothing attractive about a panic attack, and nothing healthy about an autoimmune disorder. But neither of those things are the person's fault. They simply are. Just like people are born gay or straight, I was born autistic. This isn't my fault, and I shouldn't be penalized for it. But I am, and constantly.
If my "normal" act isn't perfect, people avoid me. Make excuses to leave. I can't stand big parties for very long, because of the strain of dealing with so many unknown people. I have to take extra care with my energy, because it's a very limited resource. I need extra soundproofing in my walls so I can have a quiet place to go, free of external distractions, just so I can recuperate from work and people every day. None of this is my fault, and ideally, I wouldn't have to pretend to be neurotypical. I wouldn't have to wonder how I actually am and what I'm like when I'm not trying to bluff the world into thinking I'm just like them.
One day, maybe, there'll be a civil rights case for autism, and other disabilities. And that will be a cause I'll fight for, the same as I've raised my voice for equal marriage. We are all less if one of us is made less. Simply allowing segregation or inequality of any kind degrades our very humanity.
So celebrate equal marriage with me. It's one less glaring inequality that lessens us as human beings.
No comments:
Post a Comment