I don't know how this is compatible with the growing muslim population in the UK and other countries. I know that not all Muslims are as radical as others, but I would say that in general they don't exactly have an egalitarian view of the roles of men and women, not to mention homosexuals.
That's an interesting point. Thanks for raising it.
I wouldn't say it's a paradox, but there are certainly areas of conflict between the two ideals of making sure that people are treated fairly, and making sure that different cultures are valued. I don't think it's possible to have a perfect solution for this. The hijab ban in France is perhaps one of the most prominent examples and illustrates the distinction between people and cultures. Presumably France do not want to ban the hijab in Muslim-governed countries, in that culture... but they do in their own country... for their own people (and, of course, their own culture). Which then provokes the question of whether a Muslim migrant to France from say Iraq is part of a Muslim culture, or a French culture, or an Iraqi culture (or a Muslim person, French person, Iraqi person). The answer of course being all three (or all six)... which is where a conflict can arise. Often in practice the thing that takes precedence is the culture of the country in which the person resides, in this case French culture supersedes Iraqi or Muslim culture. Which then provokes the question of whether a nation can truly be multi-cultural in the fullest sense of the word. I suppose a good answer to this question is how that nation resolves (or attempts to resolve) these conflicts.
The path to treating everyone equally and fairly is not always clear, but progress is certainly being made. We are moving slowly in the right direction.
I've not looked into it, no. It might be an interesting investigation for the future.