I am writing in support of the Model Policies on the Treatment of Transgender Students.

I am 77 years old. A lot has changed as I have aged, and I have learned a lot and been made aware of a lot of things I was not previously aware of. While we have always known that there is a wide range of intelligence and may other things about humans, we were somehow not aware of the range of sexuality that could exist between/among our friends and families. Many time we heard from friends or even religious organizations that people who were not like us or not a certain way, racially, religiously, or sexually, were different, inferior, or just bad or evil.

As we have matured and learned more about humanity, we have come to realize that we need to change our understanding about things. In particular, we must learn to accept humanity in all its forms, racial, religious, sexual, or whatever. We do not understand how all these things happen in life, but also we cannot change them, we need to accept them as long as they are not injuring others. No one deserves to be bullied, harassed, or discriminated against in their school. None of us has decided to whom or where we are born, or what our minds will be like. The thing we are learning is that we all have to work together to help each other and not diminish any one of us for the way we/they were born.

One of things that bothers me the most is the suicide of young children. Not accepting them as they are is a major cause of suicide in children, and we can avoid some of it by accepting them as they are.

Young children particularly are easily influenced and prone to embarrassment or depression if they are not accepted as they are. Therefore, I believe that all students should be treated equally and accepted as they are, racially, religiously, or sexually, and have equal access to education as long as they are not interfering with education which is the purpose of school. I believe all students should be allowed to thrive and reach their full potential.