Our community planning organizations, such as the March on Washington or Stonewall 25, attempt to enforce gender, racial and sexual orientation quotas to create balanced representation on their committees. This process is exclusionary. While a discriminatory process is also exclusionary, it attempts to limit or exclude participation by one or more minority groups. Quotas appear to be a reverse discrimination, while not discriminatory regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc., they discriminate against and limit participation by a majority and grant members of a minority a greater power. Thus quotas are inherently discriminatory; they do not create equality, but greater inequities. This is anti-democratic. Minority rights must be protected against a majority for justice and fairness to exist, but the reverse is also true. After all, democracy is rule by majority. All other discriminatory and tyrannical political systems are rule by minority.

The foregoing represents the position we in the U.S. have taken regarding minority rights and discrimination. As we have conceptualized the problems and enshrined them into law, ours is a separatist, divisive concept, too easily leading to accusations of seeking special rights or seeing a need to set up quotas. We reflect on our differences and thus exclude our commonality. On the other hand, Canadian rights law is inclusionary and tends to use very few terms that would call attention to differences. Is this why the Canadians had an easier task in passing these laws? Perhaps another way to look at this issue is from the perspective of two terms: non-discriminatory and anti-discriminatory. The later is ours, reflecting a national mindset, is antagonistic, separatist and is clearly a cause for problems. We need to rethink our strategy.

All discriminatory laws based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation should be invalidated and that discrimination made illegal and enforced by appropriate punishment. No law should be passed that grants special exemption or recognition to any minority or majority. And any discrimination for any reason by government should be illegal. Any act of discrimination on the part of individuals should not be validated by any rationale in a court of law. No legal reasons for discrimination should be valid. On the other hand, individuals should be able to discriminate as they please in their personal lives. The right of free association also grants the right not to associate with those one does not like.