Opinion

Support transgender patriots

To the Editor;
The soldiers who identify as members of the transgender community serve our country and protect our freedoms in the U.S. military. Patriot hero soldiers from the LGBTQ+ community have given their lives or have come home from many wars with arms or legs blown off.

In 2007, I met such a soldier in northern Arizona when I was working for the Yavapai County Community Health Services. This soldier had lost a leg fighting in Vietnam. Her story was a combination of proud service to her county and hatred, fear and discrimination dumped on her by various people during her life; discrimination from those who did not take the time to listen to her story mixed with support and empathy from those who got to know her.

The current order by our president to prevent patriots and heroes from the transgender community from serving our country comes out of Donald Trump’s ignorance and outside pressure. Trump has little knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community in general and trans folks specifically.

Nationalism is a means to take away rights. Patriotism is a means to protect rights. I choose the latter. What about you? If you choose the latter, strongly encourage your representatives in Washington to support the patriot transgender soldiers who put their lives on the line daily. We must protect all our soldiers who fight and die to protect our freedoms, not a president who is determined to take away freedoms.

Timothy Rogers
LaGrange

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