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I have spent the past six years of my life as a transgender student in Maine. I watched as the students around me changed drastically, and, when I graduated from Holbrook Middle School four years ago, I finally broke the news to my peers. I felt accepted and welcomed in my new community. However, over the past few years, I have slowly been pushed back into hiding.
It seems that attitudes about transgender individuals have been rapidly trending toward negativity. All over the country, people are protesting against transgender protection laws and policies of acceptance in school districts. And to tell the truth, I have never been more frightened.
Michel Rosenfeld, professor of law at Harvard University, has been quoted as saying that, “It seems contradictory to extend freedom of speech to extremists, who… if successful, ruthlessly suppress the speech of those with whom they disagree.” This idea is described as the “Paradox of Tolerance.” The concept states that tolerating the intolerant will only breed more intolerance.
Why, then, do we allow intolerance in our country? Why do we allow people to spread hateful rhetoric, crying out for the First Amendment while banning books and burning flags? America, and humanity as a whole, has made great strides in acceptance and tolerance. It would be a shame for that progress to be erased so quickly.
Puck Allen
Eddington