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   MSGID: 4515.fido_allpolit@1:124/5016 24035257   
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   TID: SBBSecho 3.11-Linux r3.179 Oct 25 2020 GCC 7.5.0   
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   -=> Angela Walker wrote to Dennis Katsonis <=-   
      
    AW>   Re: Re: Weakling   
    AW>   By: Dennis Katsonis to Lee Lofaso on Tue Sep 08 2020 09:16 am   
      
    AW> I can list a few ways that Trump being president has tangibly and   
    AW> negatively affected my life in a real way!   
    AW> Under Obama, LGBT individuals such as myself had federal legal   
    AW> protections against discrimination. LGBT students could feel safe in   
    AW> public - they could use public restrooms without fear of legal action   
    AW> being taken against them - something that should be a basic human right   
    AW> for all Americans. LGBT employees had federal non-discrimination   
    AW> protections. Transgender persons could participate in the Armed   
    AW> Services.  I could go on. Thanks to Trump, all of that has been   
    AW> reversed and then some. He's actually gone as far as to legally   
    AW> "disappear" transgender people by redefining gender in the legal   
    AW> context as an un-changeable binary determined by a doctor's glance at   
    AW> birth that can never be changed or modified on any legal documents   
    AW> recognized by his government.  While I haven't been arrested for using   
    AW> a public restroom nor have I been discharged from service or fired   
    AW> because of who I am, knowing that those are the rules of the land has   
    AW> profoundly affected my psyche and self-esteem. I feel vastly less-safe   
    AW> as an LGBT American than I did under Obama - I feel at-risk when I go   
    AW> to work, when I go shopping, when I pay my bills, when I fill out   
    AW> forms, and very much so when I see a doctor or seek any sort of medical   
    AW> care. When Trump was elected, I knew it would be bad for LGBT Americans   
    AW> but he's done more to hurt us than I'd even imagined. His words when he   
    AW> asked the Supreme Court to rule that LGBT Americans have no legal   
    AW> protections against discrimination - and lost the case - "It's   
    AW> unfortunate. It's very unfortunate." So I have to live with knowing   
    AW> that the leader of my country believes it's very unfortunate that he   
    AW> couldn't officially legalize discrimination against people like myself.   
    AW> ... and now that he's installed his pet, Amy, into the Supreme Court,   
    AW> that decision is likely to be overturned - along with dismantling the   
    AW> Affordable Care Act that protects 30 million Americans with health care   
    AW> in the middle of a pandemic, not to mention women's rights. Roe vs.   
    AW> Wade? Gone, just a matter of time. Regardless of how you feel about   
    AW> abortion, I submit that taking away the right of every woman to make   
    AW> that decision for herself after decades of the status quo represents a   
    AW> monumental step backwards in terms of personal rights and freedoms -   
    AW> well, rights not pertaining to straight white men, that is. But I'm   
    AW> getting off-topic so I'll return to my premise and conclude that yes,   
    AW> my life is much worse than it was when Obama was in charge. I think   
    AW> that actually applies to the vast majority of Americans, as COVID does   
    AW> not represent an anomoly - it's not an external event that has nothing   
    AW> to do with Trump's leadership as he'd like you to think - it's a direct   
    AW> result of his empowerment! Consider this: China tried to hide the SARS   
    AW> outbreak of 2008 just as they tried t hide COVID but American agents   
    AW> and the CDC played a major role in exposing the truth in time to stem   
    AW> the spread. However in 2019, the president of the United States was   
    AW> praising China's leadership and even in early 2020 he was on TV   
    AW> commending China's efforts in dealing with the virus - assuring us it   
    AW> was not threat to America.  Forget everything he's done to hamper the   
    AW> efforts to get the virus under control since it exploded in America...   
    AW> I submit that it's the fault of himself and his global influence that   
    AW> this thing ever got out of control worldwide in the first place! He's   
    AW> done a 180 on China by calling it the "China virus," well I say we call   
    AW> it the "Trump virus!"  To that end, Trump has made all of our lives SO   
    AW> much worse, worldwide! --- SBBSecho 2.27-Win32   
      
   I worry greatly that people will use their feelings to impact others.   
   We see people being cancelled, being fired because of how people "feel".   
   I have a real problem with this.  I have a problem with action taken   
   against others because some people think that this or that could happen.   
      
   That is why I asked for tangible and real outcomes.  Because its easy to   
   say that this or that changes makes me feel bad.  But does it impact   
   you?  Is there anything more to it than you fear and how you feel about   
   it?   
      
      
   If as a result of Trump, you were fired, denied a job, attacked, lost   
   out financially, whatever, I can understand.  That is what I wanted to   
   know, and why I asked.   
      
   You yourself admitted that these things you fear haven't actually   
   happened.   
      
      
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