A Letter to Mitch McConnell from a Native Kentuckian
I urge Senator McConnell to stand against the rising tide of anti-transgender oppression in America.
I’m publishing this as an open letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell since it’s highly unlikely that neither he nor anyone from his office will actually bother to read my email:
I am a transgender American and native to Kentucky. Transgender rights are under attack. I was forced to move away from Kentucky because not even Louisville was a safe enough city for me with being religious and all. But now, it appears that what happened to Germany's Jewish population is going to end up happening to America's transgender population. Is this what you want? Do you want to be known as the senator who let Donald Trump target Americans because of being born different? Do you think my 2nd great-grandmother asked the Nazis to murder her because of being Jewish? NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS NORMAL!
I beg of you to please be the leader that you claim to be and speak out against the fascist in the Oval Office! I did not ask, want, or choose to be transgender but I am. It's sad to watch the so-called leaders of my country just quietly supporting a fascist agenda.
Thomas Jefferson and the founders once wrote this text in the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
While it was gendered language at the time, we know that it applies to all humans, not just the white men voting at the time. If I am endowed with certain unalienable rights, then why are my rights being TAKEN AWAY from me because of being transgender?!? Do you not realize, Senator McConnell that what is happening now in America to the transgender population is no different than the institution of the Nuremberg race laws during the 1930s in Nazi Germany. We know how it starts but we cannot, cannot, CANNOT allow it to reach the point in which it’s too late.
Do you wish it to be on your conscience that you played a role in failing America’s transgender population? Do you want to be the person who later has regrets about not taking action when they had a chance? Or do you wish to be like all the Righteous Members of the Nations that stood up to Nazi Germany when others went along with the Final Solution? (Adding for publication: People need to understand the real harms that come with gutting gender-affirming healthcare, let alone targeting the transgender population in such a dehumanizing manner.)
From where I’m sitting, this native transgender Kentuckian is going to be forced into moving from America before it reaches the point of no return. I always thought it would be antisemitism, not federally mandated transphobia, that forced me into moving.