This is my response to the two strongly positive articles on this page:

Thank you for devoting the Strib Voices page on October 16 to transgender rights. Many Republicans, including our president, are using transgender people as cudgels to pound Democrats, as an easy dog whistle to pull people in and get them riled up, since being transgender is so foreign to the average American. And therein lies the problem. Ellie Krug (a transgender school board member in her county) beautifully explained that being transgender is not a choice, it’s just a fact. I have friends who have transgender children and grandchildren. I have a close relative who is transgender. I have a daughter-in-law who works as a therapist with transgender youth. They will all tell you that transgender people are who they know themselves to be–it is not a trend they are jumping on, it is real, and their happiness and well-being increased exponentially when they came out and transitioned, becoming their true selves. I ask for others to feel empathy for what it would be like to go to bed every night as a young child, praying that when you wake up you will be the girl or the boy you are supposed to be. I ask for others to feel empathy about what it would be like to walk into a men’s public bathroom wearing a dress and pretty makeup, or to walk into a women’s bathroom with a beard. I ask for empathy for those who are afraid they will be targets of violence from strangers just for being who they truly are. (I am aware that this applies to immigrants, people of color and others as well.) I ask for empathy for what it would be like to feel like you were playing a role, wearing a mask, pretending to be the girl or boy, the man or woman everyone thinks you are, but you know you are not. I ask for empathy for the majority of transgender people who are rejected by their own parents when they come out, who are estranged from their extended families, but who nonetheless know that they must live as their authentic selves, because the pain of living a lie is greater than the pain they experience from rejection. I ask for everyone to really heed the words of those from the Council on LGBTQIA25+ Minnesotans, who said in their powerful article, “Demand trans lives be seen as valued, as is any other life. Our advice: Let us live.”