Safety of minors doesn't equate to hate of LGBTQ+ people

It is good to hear Ms. Palmer is keeping her personal opinion and worldview separate from her education of minors. I never said that book was necessarily shelved in “our school libraries.” Consider it more of a preemptive discussion.

A person’s sex and gender are determined biologically, not by someone's individual state of mind, i.e., their “gender identity.” For example, gender dysphoria is a result of an individual's mental state, a confusion about their gender identity. The reason we are hearing more about it is because of the harmful physical, psychological, and even social effects emerging. The culture and medical profession want to affirm these disorders by affirmation of a child’s confusion, promoting sex reassignment, puberty blockers, lifelong cross-sex hormones, and mutilating surgeries. This is particularly egregious given the fact that 80-90% of cases resolve by adulthood. There is nothing loving, “evolved,” or progressive about a society that denies truth and biological reality at the expense of other human beings. My point has been that queer and gender ideology play their part in confusing young people about their sexual identity and has no business in our education system.  

Finally, Ms. Palmer, you keep conflating disagreement with hate, ignorance, or discrimination. Please understand the difference. I’ve argued for the safety of minors, not hate or discrimination of LGBTQ+ people. I’m against the latter, and so should everyone else be.

TIM KNAPP

Clark Fork