1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I woke up today to find a list of more than half a dozen anti-trans bills up for vote that do everything from complicate the lives of trans folks, to disregarding their physical, emotional, and psychological struggles, to going so far as to attempt to criminalize their very existence. As if trans people aren't still PEOPLE. They're parents and siblings, employers, teachers, spouses. And in numerous cases, they're kids. Actual children. I'm unsure where this belief that disregarding the medical & emotional needs of kids was beneficial to their well-being stemmed from, but refusing to acknowledge that a child may disagree with the appearance of their body and therefore desire to change it in a way that some may find 'icky' will only ever bring harm to that child: - Psychological harm from having their needs constantly disregarded. - Emotional harm from never having the chance to love and express their true selves. - And physical harm, in the way that children are prone to display: self-injury, lashing out at others, being lashed out at by their peers (or parents), or in increasingly more common cases, suicide. Because when a child endures that much emotional trauma, during a time when they're finally beginning to understand the world on a grander scale and develop the tools to process it all, they start to convince themselves that this world isn't meant for them. And I truly hope you never have to experience what it is to lose someone you love because they were so repeatedly shown a world that refused to love them. It's ridiculous that there are efforts being made to ban THC under the guise of "protecting children" when those same political leaders are working just as hard to pass regulation that will cause very real, very measurable damage to an already at-risk youth population. It's only within the past four years that I've had regular exposure to members of the trans community. We play games together, share meals, share stories of laughter and frustration. They complain about traffic and work and all the other mundane things you and I experience because they're just like us. They're human people who want to live boring, peaceful lives. Where you may dye your hair to cover up gray patches to hide your birth age, a trans woman is shaving her legs and putting on makeup to be more aligned with the gender she wasn't given at birth. Where a woman might get breast implants because she's self-conscious about her smaller cup size, a trans man is talking to his doctor about removing the breasts he never wanted and hates having. These aren't sexual predators, they're just people wanting to live their lives in peace during a time when medical advancements can finally give them the opportunity to do so. When these bills require your action, I implore you to act in the best interest of ALL Texans and not just cis-het ones. Vote No to these discriminatory, insensitive bills, and just let trans folks live their lives in peace.