Poilievre is making things much worse

I used to fault former federal Conservative leader Erin O'toole for cosying up to the extremists in the Tory base. I hate to admit it, but these days I'm looking back on his reign with a certain nostalgic longing. O'toole only played footsie with the extremists. Current Tory leader Pierre Poilievre kisses them.

I am absolutely disgusted with the way Poilievre has lately sided with social conservatives who have declared war on transgender people.

Some years back, I was the volunteer secretary for a transgender support organization. I heard many heartbreaking stories of discrimination, harassment, bullying, violence and suicide intervention — part of being transgender.

Poilievre and his social conservative buddies are making the situation much worse.

I'm a lifelong nerd. I have some sense of what it's like to feel that you don't fit in anywhere — that you can't be yourself, that you have to hide who you are.

I know that transgender people have it 10 times worse than I ever did.

You know what's funny? Trans people have been better about accepting me than so-called mainstream society.

Hey, Pierre, how about you focus on issues that affect the majority of Canadians, like the high cost of groceries and the shortage of affordable housing?

Anti-trans rhetoric from social conservatives and their enablers puts trans adults and kids at risk for physical harm. Trans people get beat up and murdered over this stuff. Using already vulnerable people as pawns to score votes and donations is beyond skeevy.

Petra Seyffarth, Regina