Put LGBT youth before partisanship

I’m an original Cedar Rapidian, born and raised here, and a life long resident. Something to be proud of until all the gun violence, drug culture, and gang violence has taken over our dear city. But I’ll save talking about that for another time.

I am here today to talk about our LGBT and trans youth in our state. A state I have always been proud of until recent years due to our political climate now. I have a coming out story, but today I wish to talk about my great concern for or youth struggling with their gender identities with bills being proposed and laws being passed that are harmful and detrimental to the mental health of our states children.

Bills like “Don’t Say Gay,” where students and teachers won’t be able to talk about LGBT issues. Trying to ban books in school libraries that discuss LGBT issues. Parental rights laws, that force schools to out LGBT students to their families. Outing could put some of our children in harms way, in homes that don’t support them, with some fundamentalist believers abusing, kicking out, or sending youth to conversation therapies. This is a terrifying concept to me. The last I knew, we were supposed to protect our youth from danger, not put them in possible harms way.

I pray our state takes the high road, and starts putting our children first, rather then putting political partisanship first.

John Zehms

Cedar Rapids