Natia Shakaia

My today’s story is about world’s one of the most important issues, which is the tolerance. To be more concrete the nonexistence of the tolerance in the most cases. In my article I will try to tell you briefly what kind of attitude is there in different countries toward the people who is said to be in the minority. Unfortunately, even now, in the 21st century there are lots of people who couldn’t put up with others. The people are better known as LGBT representatives. And sadly they are bullied in many countries of Europe (not only) and they live under the fear and constant pressure.

If we google the word “tolerance’ we get this definition: “Tolerance is the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behavior that one dislikes or disagrees”. But our main problem as the members of society is not the ignorance of this word itself but the fact that we don’t want to look deeply in the meaning of this word, what does it really mean and what does it require from us?

Everyone is equal in spite of their colour of skins, gender, religion and sexual orientation. Today I want to talk about the topic I’ve mentioned and to find out what we are doing wrong and why cannot we except them as they really are. We, as ordinary mortals should know that everyone has equal rights but unfortunately, we often forget about this and as a result we make wrong actions and decisions.

Every country is different and it is no wonder that they have different values. Social attitude towards the homosexuality is variable according to the culture existing in the peculiar country and different historical periods. I found out that, according to the survey made in 2013, there is a high acceptance of homosexuality in North America, and in the European and Latin countries as well. The attitude of Muslim countries also Africa and some parts of Asia and Russia toward this issue is completely different. Sometimes this kind of vision is encouraged by the religion (at least they say so), but we must know that none of the existing religions teach us to hate anyone. Well, than where does it come from? …

Many things depend on the society we live in. This society helps us to become a human, and if we have an ambition to be different from the prehistoric people, then we have to act like a human. Unfortunately, the reality is much harsher than we see it from the first sight. For example in my country where traditions are very important, the society (mostly elders) cannot tolerate people with different orientation. They cannot understand that being different doesn’t mean having less rights. It is hard to explain to them that it is not some sort of crime, but our generation can do many things to change the world to the better place to live. We should teach next generation that everyone is equal. Let’s say NO to homophobia.

At the end what I really can tell you is that the peace begins with tolerance and respect to everyone. I definitely agree with Hellen Keller’s opinion that “the highest result of education is Tolerance”.

Natia Shakaia

Read this article in Georgian here.

The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author, and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of ALDA and the European Union.