TRANSGENDER PEOPLE SEEK ONLY RESPECT AS AMERICANS
Anti-transgender legislation continues to be an issue in states across the country. Even in Tennessee, conservative lawmakers continue to draft laws aimed at limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ citizens with all the vigor they can muster. They say they want to protect children and the rights of women. They believe transgender people are dangerous and pose a threat to children and women, both physically and socially.
That’s their rhetoric, and there’s one thing the right is very good at doing — remaining consistent with their rhetoric — from the pulpits to the fire pits.
But is this a slippery slope? Do we really want this in our government? The patron saint of conservatism, Ronald Reagan, once said that “Man is not free unless government is limited.”
The Republican Revolution lays out three edicts: “stay out of my life, stay out of my business and stay out of my wallet.”
Call me obtuse, but I don’t believe passing laws that direct people to specific bathrooms and prohibit medically necessary treatments qualifies as “limited government.” But here we are, allowing them to tell us one thing and doing another.
I think it’s safe to say that transgender and nonbinary men, women, and children are the new targets for so many. Megyn Kelly stated on a recent episode of her show that the transgender population is living under a “delusion.” Conservative activists Charlie Kirk and Matt Walsh have been sharp critics of the transgender movement, often asking the inane question, “What is a woman?” as if those of us assigned male at birth are in complete denial and don’t understand the difference in sex and gender.
And let’s not forget those assigned female at birth who identify as male. Do you think this “delusion” has led them to forget their reality as well? Of course not. It is the acceptance of this reality that causes gender dysphoria, and this is why we seek gender transition in the form of hormone therapy, and, for some, surgical interventions. We understand we will never be 100% our preferred sex, but transition eases that burden.
I’m hoping that if the people in power will take the time to see that we are human beings who share in the human experience, maybe they will change their perspective on the socalled “transgender agenda.”
This so-called transgender agenda is no more than a group of human beings trying to stay alive from one day to the next and maintain the same rights as everyone else. There is no reason we should feel unsafe or out of place in public. And we should never be made to feel as though our existence is abominable or unacceptable because someone’s religion tells them so.
As a woefully misunderstood population, we are easily demonized. I get it. But I really think the public at large would start thinking differently about transgender people when they put human faces on us. People need to realize we are your children and grandchildren and your friends and neighbors. Despite our differences, we are a lot like you. We want to enjoy the American dream just like the next person. You don’t have to like us or even have to agree with us. All I ask is that you respect our rights as Americans to live freely as our authentic selves. That’s what Americans do.
The greatest movers and shakers in our history gave us the most poignant words of hope but also the sternest admonishments.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”
Maybe one day we’ll get it right. But now, we have a long way to go.
Ponder that!