Seeds of Change in Human Rights Acceptance
Several cities have issued proclamations declaring themselves to be Human Rights Cities. Among the cities making such declarations are Boston; Eugene, Oregon; Pittsburgh; Seattle; and Washington D.C. In the case of Eugene, the Human Rights Commission was instructed “to embrace the full range of human rights as enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” While other cities and states have not formally declared themselves human rights locations, many jurisdictions have human rights commissions and have been guided by human rights principals in decision-making. Vermont, for example, enacted universal healthcare as a human right. As Martha Davis discussed in yesterday’s post, Salt Lake City implemented housing for the homeless on a human rights platform.
Major advancements in providing for basic human needs are not necessarily related to whether or not the location has declared itself a Human Rights City or State. But the declarations ignite discussion, as does the empowerment of a city or state’s human rights commission. As with the civil rights movement, the human rights discussion is seeping into consciousness for those cities who began the discussion through public acknowledgement of fundamental human rights.
In Boston last week, Mayor Marty Walsh refused to march in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Embracing a civil and human rights platform, the Mayor had for weeks attempted to broker negotiations that would have permitted MassEquality members to march in a parade that has excluded them for twenty years. The issue of the groups’ right to march had been the subject of a 1995 US Supreme Court decision.
As Mayor Walsh noted, negotiations failed over five letters: LGBTQ. The parade organizers, Allied War Veteran’s Council, a small veterans’ organization, would grant MassEquality a place in the parade only if the marchers and their banner made no reference to LGBT or Q. This pocket of equality resistance may be the last public vestige of homophobia in the first state to enact marriage equality through court decision. The Allied War Veteran Council equality resisters speak without indication of broad based community support. South Boston may be best remembered for its resistance to school integration during the 1970’s. But leadership and community attitudes change over time and eventually equality can become the accepted norm. For both the civil and human rights movements, major public events created change, for Boston the norm began its shift only after major court decisions and, in the case of race, years of enforcement monitoring. Cultures can change even if in fits and starts. Human rights can trump despite eruptions of ongoing resistance.
This year the famed South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast was hosted by Massachusetts state Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, who happens to be a woman of color whose district includes South Boston. Next year we expect to see MassEquality members marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.