01/29/2026
I read recently that 76 Americans last year went to the Netherlands to ask for asylum. REALLY? Why in the world? It happens that most are transgender folks, some even from San Francisco. Even they are saying that “robot taxis aside, their experience in America was indistinguishable from that of people from Libya and Iran and Morocco and Algeria.”…where there is a death penalty for the LGBTQIA+ community. It reinforces the angst I feel, as our family has a gay son who feels more comfortable in Amsterdam than his home country. Damn it! I am speaking for myself when I ask…when are we as a nation going to quit finding ways to punish people for being who they are? I do not give a flip about whether anyone understands or doesn’t understand why our fellow citizens are who they are. We all deserve to be ourselves and I am tired of a certain political class stoking the separation of the LGBTQIA+ community from the rest of us, strip them of their dignity, restrict their right of self-determination and cause the resultant civil mistreatment of fellow citizens. The dividers rant about the wonders of individualism and then try to demonize groups they can exploit to gain power. As many problems/opportunities as this nation has, the dividers discussion always includes trans people.
We at PFLAG are committed to trying to support folks in the LGBTQIA+ community as well as support the families and friends that surround them. We are committed to finding ways to bring the LGBTQIA+ community together for mutual comfort and promote understanding and acceptance from those who are not.
Let’s all do our part to make this right, not just better.
Pete Glidewell