Above all, love. Our failure to treat others with dignity and respect will be the downfall of our nation. The more we create divisions among our family and friends, the more we bleed and hurt.
Today Trump announced that Transsexual members of the Armed forces would no longer be allowed to serve. This is the kind of nonsense that does this country damage.
I will be the first to admit, I grew up in the Navy with some very conservative values, and I was the liberal among conservatives. But in the Submarine force, they weren't accepting of gays or women, and honestly minorities of any status. Here I was, someone of the Jewish faith out at sea on a Submarine, and for most, I was the first Jewish person these guys had ever met. I was an ambassador in a way. What I did and how I acted mattered a lot.
So getting back to the LGBTQ community, people thing that the entire military will be exclusively made up of LGBTQ. That would not be the case. I'm sure that few would meet someone Trans, but people will definitely meet LGB&Q people. And my guess is the numbers are much higher than people would ever guess or know.
Military life is hard enough without a President making it harder for the people who want to stand by and defend this land. The soldiers and sailors who are protecting our constitutional rights; The men and women who love America and are willing to give up their very life to defend it; they deserve to be treated like everyone else.
We need to stop turning the clocks backward. Every thing from allowing Gays to openly serve to having women in combat are positive steps to a uniform service that can leverage diversity in all its forms. We are bogged down in sex and sexuality and not about finding qualified soldiers and sailors who can perform.
You really don't know your neighbors if you hide out and never meet them. We are better than this. Because this hatred becomes an infection. It isn't who we are. Love your neighbor as yourself.
So judge a little less and love a little more, after all, we can grow.