The Constitution of Equality

Abstract

The organization Equality is based on the principle that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual people, as well as people who identify with other sexual orientations and gender identities are entitled to equality, equity, safety, and freedom of expression. Article 1 The name Equality will be used in reference to the group outlined in the following articles. This document was revised and submitted to the Student Services Committee in 2008. Article 2 This organization is comprised of people with a diverse array of sexual orientations and gender identities that are inclusive of, but not exclusive to: lesbian, bisexual, gay, and heterosexual, as well as transgender, transsexual, and cisgender identified people.

Despairing about War: The Democratic Limits of Pessimism

“…Following many democratic theorists, e.g. Christiano 2008 andWall 2007, I uphold the belief that equality is constitutive of democratic norms. Of course, the ethics of ordinary citizens do not obligate them to promote progress for all other citizens or to spread the cultural conditions of everyday hopes (although I do think there are times when they should do this).…”

Self-respect and public reason

“…We display uniquely valuable forms of civic respect by practicing public reason (e.g. Christiano 2008;Lister 2008). Finally, the epistemic argument defends public reason on the basis of its truth-seeking properties.…”

Justice and Foreign Rule

“…In light of these controversies, authors such as Thomas Christiano (2008) or Joshua Cohen (2006) have suggested to justify the right to democracy as a way to respect our co-citizens' equal moral status, rather than their autonomy. By maintaining a system of democratic rule in which the vote of one person counts no more and no less than the vote of another, so the argument goes, we publicly acknowledge the equal moral status of our co-citizens.…”