“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. ”
– Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Lately, I’ve been keeping an eye (or two) on the progress of Prop 8 and the events surrounding it. Being far away from where all the action is taking place, I am unable to physically be part of the fight. However, my mind has been tossing and turning over the entire event. The whole “Fatwa incident” has made my mind toss and turn even more uncomfortably too. The inspiring thing though, is that more people are beginning to get their backsides off their seats and are starting to take more action.

The funny thing is that over the past few days while reflecting on all that has been happening, a song keeps playing in my mind: the famous drilling music from one of my favourite musicals, Les Miserables -

“Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again
When the beating of your heart, echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes”

The music and the chorus and the loud, strong voices – they’ve just been in my head all week long. And I think I know why.

It’s the beating of my heart trying to tell me that the time is drawing near.

We’ve seen throughout history how people have fought for their rights. We know about the fight for women’s suffrage. We also know about the fight for equal rights among coloured people in America and around the world. There’s also the fight against slavery. And we’re all very familiar with how these events turned out. They should be a form of inspiration for us as we face another historic moment where we fight for our rights - the right for same-sex marriages; the right to be treated equally despite your gender and sexuality; the right to dress according to your own sensible sense of fashion.

Now the song is growing even louder in my head.

Since Stonewall, it seems like a growing ripple effect has been rocking boats all over the world: a movement leading into other movements to fight for the same ultimate goal. It feels to me like now is the time when humankind will slowly but very steadily be revolutionized. It’s as though our generation is the chosen generation to make an impact for the future of human rights. It would be great if decades from now, people will be talking about how wonderful their life is because every single human is treated with respect, and equality is a word that actually makes sense. And they’ll be looking into their history books thanking OUR generation for what WE did.

And then there’ll be a beautiful musical written about how the world was changed because of a generation that dared to stand up and make a change (or many changes). And they’ll be singing a similar drum-filled sonorous chorus, something like the song that’s still stuck in my head.

“Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see?”