Equality means equal concern and respect across difference. It does not presuppose the elimination or suppression of difference. Respect for human rights requires the affirmation of self, not the denial of self. Equality therefore does not imply a levelling or homogenisation of behaviour or extolling one form as supreme, and another as inferior, but acknowledgement and acceptance of difference. At the very least, it affirms that difference should not be the basis for exclusion, marginalisation or stigma. At best, it celebrates the vitality that difference brings to society.
