I am compelled to respond to Arlene Violet’s sorely misinformed column, “Agree or disagree, protect the First Amendment." 

While we all have the right to express ourselves in a public forum, that right comes with a responsibility to get the facts right, especially when the author holds herself out as a legal expert and public figure. And there are many ways in which Ms. Violet’s column simply gets it wrong.

First, the story hour canceled and then held last weekend at Rogers Free Library did not feature a “transgender person.” It featured a drag queen. Let’s be very clear about the difference.

A drag queen is a person of one gender (usually male) dressing up as a member of the other gender. It is a costume, a persona, a creative means of self-expression.  It is not a lifestyle, a sexual orientation, or even a gender identity.

The handful of protesters praying the rosary outside the library, and the anonymous cowards who threatened violence if the library ran the program (let’s hope they were two different groups), were railing against a character reading a story, one as morally neutral as Mrs. Katz dressed up in her hats.

Misnomers matter, Ms. Violet. Ramona Mirage is not a transgender person. And I can assure you that no woman has ever complained that transgender women wear “overly sexualized clothing” that “insults women as sex objects.”

Transgender describes a person whose gender identity differs from the one assigned at birth. A transgender woman has the gender identity of a woman, even if she was born with male or ambiguous genitalia: put more simply, she has the body of a boy but the brain of a girl. 

Although transgender women may be at any stage in their transition to their true gender identity, they usually strive to blend in as women, not stand out. It would be highly unusual to find transgender women wearing clothes that insult women because they are women.

Being cavalier with words is harmful. It misinforms those who truly seek to understand, and it minimizes the often painful experiences of those whose lives are impacted by gender identity and sexual orientation. Please educate yourself in the future before stepping out of your wheelhouse or comfort zone.

Elizabeth A. Vorro, Esquire
Bristol