From time to time, when the news media carry a report on some ‘new right’ that the LGBT community has been given, the comments sections and social media explode with comments, many approving, some condemning the change.

When will this end? some ask. Give them an inch, they’ll take a mile, say others. Will their demands never stop?

While I cannot speak on their behalf, I know what I would want if I were in their position: everything. I would demand nothing less than every single right accorded to every other citizen.

Why should I settle for less? Do gay people pay less income tax? Are they exempt from paying VAT? No. They fulfil their civil obligations just like the rest and are right to expect the same rights too.

There is no such thing as ‘gay rights’ as such – just as there are no women’s rights and so on. Rather, there are rights that are presently being denied to people on account of their sexual orientation, or gender, or some other characteristic.

People who have never been on the receiving end may find it difficult to imagine what discrimination might exist.

Just keep in mind that the rights we speak about are not being taken away from you but only extended to a group to whom they have been denied so far.

One of the fundamental principles of humanism is equality. Discriminating unjustly against a group based on such characteristics as sexual orientation, gender identity and so on is something that we should put behind us as a chapter in our history which we should learn from and avoid repeating.