The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

To the editor:

I have been struggling a little these last few days. I had an attack of ego the other day that I am still trying to get right sized. I recognized it quickly and started measures to alter course. But more troubling is the constant barrage of disparaging words that I hear from state houses around this nation.

As a human being in this most marginalized category, it is troubling to read the news or listen to talking heads on our media. Every day, I am met with this negativity. Yet I insist I must take the high road.

But I talk to my friends who are also trans, and hear the fear in their voices. Conservatives mentioned the eradication of trans people this last weekend at the CPAC thing in DC.

Omg this is the USA! What happened to freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Locally, conservatives managed to get LGBTQ books moved to higher shelves in the library after failing to get the books banned. The resources for children who question have essentially been removed. If they must ask to get the book down from up high, they won’t.

What happens when a conservative’s son or daughter doesn’t align gender-wise or orientation-wise? Will those families be ok when they lose that child because the child is met with resistance at home, among friends, or the perpetual bully down the street? These youth have limited options: be accepted, run away, or commit suicide.

People do not understand what it feels like to be disconnected from a body that doesn’t match with their mind. We have always been here. Let me say that again trans people have always been here. We are nothing new.

Some do not understand what it is like to live with fear day in and day out. A fear that once you leave your house, some stranger will attack you verbally for not being feminine enough. Now let’s ramp that up to the fear of a physical attack.

These zealots are all around us in the news and on the internet. This means they are all around us everywhere we go. It only takes one having a bad day to push them over the line into violence. I see headlines every day spouting rhetoric of violence for trans folk.

These are real fears that many in the trans community harbor. Some say it’s just talk, but wait, how many mass shootings have there been already this year (Over 100 as of 3/6/2023)?

I saw a video a day or so ago of a trans woman asking for help from people who are cisgender and allies of our community. We need your voices to help us through these dark times. Please join us in denouncing the various bills in these state houses nationwide. Join us in denouncing rhetoric that marginalizes segments of our population. Let’s build a world where we can all live in acceptance, equality, and happiness.

Thanks for the opportunity.

Much Love,

Regina Weldert

Dayton, WA