LGBT Rights Are Human Rights

Capt. Jennifer Peace poses near her home in Spanaway, Wash., on Aug. 28, 2015. Peace is one of an estimated 15,000 transgender people who serve in the active-duty military. She’s speaking out in the hopes of helping people understand transgender men and women. Drew Perine / The News Tribune via AP

Long ago under an administration far, far, away (just a year ago!?) we celebrated when the Pentagon lifted the ban on transgender people serving in the military.

On Wednesday we woke up to this…

 Then we got this news alert…

Justice Department Argues that 1064 Civil Rights Law Does Not Protect Gay Rights in the Workplace.

And then this…

Trump nominates Kansas Governor Brownback to be Ambassador for Religious Freedom 

(Did you even know there was an ambassador for religious freedom?)

I cannot even find the words.

Fortunately there are smart, articulate people out there who are able to find the words for me.

“What we are witnessing is nothing less than an assault on the fundamentals of the country itself: on our legacy institutions and our sense of protocol, decency and honesty.” ~Charles Blow, First They Came For…

“…open transgender service strengthens our military. Enabling soldiers to pursue their gender identity allows them to feel a part of the Army’s team and empowers them to be all they can be. Every soldier deserves to have that experience, including the thousands who are transgender.” ~Jennifer Sims, I am a Transgender Captain in the U.S. Army

“…a RAND analysis commissioned by the Department of Defense, estimated there are between 1,320 and 6,630 active-duty transgender servicepeople currently. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2015 put the number at 12,800…

This [transitioning gender choice medical care, including surgery] would [represent] a military health-care spending increase of 0.04 to 0.13 percent. Even in the most extreme case, it is one tenth of the annual $84 million that the military spends on medication for erectile dysfunction.”  ~James Hamblin, The Cost of Banning Transgender Service Members

My heart goes out to all our fellow humans in the LGBTQ community. If you are experiencing a surge of anxiety, depression, anger who could possibly blame you? I just want you to know, you are not alone, we all feel it.  Please contact us anytime. We understand and would like to help.