Be nice to all

Here’s our try at the civil discourse suggested recently in The Gazette by Debbie Koopman and Mary Mockler.

We have a lovely great-niece who is an excellent musician — intelligent, kind — has many friends and is transgender. But when we say that last word, some seem to erase the rest of her description.

Imagine someone saying to you, “You cannot be who you are!” — telling you that you must not be your sex (or your ethnicity, etc.). If we think we (white, heterosexual, of European descent) are “the norm,” perhaps it helps to open our eyes to the reality that this is not so. Diversity is the norm — among planets plants, wild life, and humans. All of us are welcome here on this Earth. And our task is to care for one another.

Can we expect anyone to be other than who they are? That is not our job. Please, let us be respectful and kind once again — to all.

Carol Nilles and Bob Engler

Cedar Rapids

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