I am a liberal in Bryan-College Station. I am also a male-to-female transsexual, a lesbian, white and a child of conservative parents. I recently turned 35, and it made me pause and consider, "What happened to the world I grew up in?"
I grew up instilled with values of creativity, compassion, justice and a premium in doing what is noble. Yet, the times we live in and our community do not seem to reflect those precepts.
Jesus said, "And what you do unto the least of these, you do unto me." However, we continually forget that our value as a community is based upon how we treat our own.
As a community we say that we are pro-life, yet we do not value the lives of our neighbors. We do not trust them to make their own decisions, to measure their own values, in terms of reproduction.
We as a community voted in recent history to ban civil unions between members of the same sex. In doing so we tread upon the dignities of some of our own to properly be there for those they love during emergency, at death and just in living out life.
We as a community depend upon a backbone of non-white labor. Yet, when push comes to shove, we prevent that base from accessing basic resources we hold.
I am disappointed that the values I was brought up with are not reflected in a community that prides itself as being a great place to rear children.
I am concerned about our future as a people unless we learn to work together whatever labels we address ourselves with.
And I guess that this birthday, my gift was one of reality sinking in as I look at the world around me.
Katy Dawn Stewart,
College Station
