Why Discriminate?

~ I warn you this is a rant ~

(congratulations if you read to the end)

I feel as if there is something that I need to get off my chest, and as with anything, my chosen way to do it is by writing a blog post. I know people don't want to read rants all day and that's seemingly all I ever do on here, but seeing as there's only six of you (who I love, don't get me wrong), I've decided this is where I'll do it. Apologies.

I have never really understood why people have issues with things such as other peoples' sexuality, skin colour, gender etc. I am fully aware of the occurrences and historical events that have forced our society into believing that equality is essentially a myth, but I have always struggled with the question of WHY?

WHY is it such an issue if another person is gay? It does not affect your life in any way, shape or form. It does not mean that the person is in ant way less human, they merely have a different sexual orientation to you. 

It is the same scenario with racism - why demoralise someone purely due to the colour of their skin or the country that they have come from when again, they are in no way any less human than every one of us.

You wouldn't discriminate against somebody for having a different favourite colour to yours, so why discriminate them because of the colour of their skin?

You wouldn't discriminate against somebody for having friends of the opposite sex so why discriminate against them for having a partner of the opposite sex?

I am so fed up of seeing casual sexist, racist and homophobic comments thrown around like they're nothing. I don't think you realise just how much they hurt people, people like my friends, and even if you did see the damage they caused, to be honest I'm not even sure you'd stop. 

We live in a society where it's hard to change the way people act and speak, and I accept that, but it genuinely saddens me that even at primary school, people are saying things like "that's so gay", or repeating racist slurs they've seen online without even knowing what they mean.

Everybody will live a different life. If people have different preferences or different backgrounds then that is a part of their life, not a reason for them to be discriminated against.

Everybody's different, but we're all human.

❤

Stephen.

I think most teenagers have heard the quote “My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations”, and this is honestly how I feel at the moment. I have just heard the sad news that Stephen Sutton, one of the most courageous, selfless, amazing, beautiful and inspirational young people in the world has passed away after losing his battle with cancer.

FU Cancer.

All of the adjectives to describe Stephen have already been used so I am unable to complement you and your spirit any more than that. You are beyond words. But you are definitely a hero and you will continue to inspire millions of people.

I never met Stephen, but I’m honestly so upset by his death. I stumbled across his page accidently last summer, and reading his inspirational posts and hearing about his amazing work never fail to remind me of how lucky I am and how you shouldn’t let anything or anyone get in your way. I know it sounds horribly cliché but I really don’t want to regret not doing something or not doing enough in my life, and Stephen has helped me to realise this. You’re only on this earth once, and from now on, I am going to try to make every single day count, just like Stephen did.

I realise I've just said that he lost his battle with cancer, but that isn’t completely true. His body did, yes; but the work that he did and all of the money that he raised brings us all one step closer to kicking cancer’s butt, and let me tell you now – I can’t wait for that day to come.

Before Stephen died he made a video which I would like to share with you. I’ve watched it countless times and each time it makes me feel so inspired. I was going to write a post in a few weeks’ time about how amazing Stephen is and about his battle and what he’s achieved, but it feels right to write it now. I don’t need to tell you about him. The outpouring tributes and this video says it all.

“I don’t see the point in measuring life in terms of time anymore. I’d rather measure life in terms of making a difference.” – Stephen Sutton

Photo courtesy of The Guardian

RIP Stephen

❤