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Contributed commentary from Michelle Ann Wilson, from her public comments to the Clarksville City Council on Thursday about Councilman Travis Holleman’s comments about C-Pride.

I have come to address some incorrect statements that were made at a previous meeting prior to Clarksville’s C-Pride event. I was very shocked to say the least that a city representative spoke those words about citizens of this city and surrounding communities.

You see, I am a trans woman and very proud of it. Not in a boastful or bragging way but in a way that I can hold my head high and say I am living my life the way I should have been my entire life. I am a happier person because of it. I also attend the local Episcopal church and help run their LGBTQ+ outreach program, Open Arms, to help heal the harm caused by the words like those spoken from this council, other government groups and religious organizations.

In fact, there were about five churches represented at C-Pride this year. One of them was the Episcopal Church that I attend.

It was stated that (the LGBTQ+ community) recruits children and converts them. The response to that is a big fat no. I would never wish being trans on anyone. No one would willingly go through what we do. No one wants to be bullied, ostracized by their family and friends, fired from their job, or discriminated against by their own government. But when someone whether an adult or a child is struggling to understand why they are or what it means to be trans or is being bullied for being trans, I and others will stand up to defend them. This goes for the rest of the LGBTQ+ community as well. We are not recruiting, we are protecting.

The LGBTQ+ community has been here throughout history, here in the present and will be here in the future. We are part of this community’s and this country’s fabric. We are students, teachers, factory workers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, architects, farmers, soldiers, priests, husbands, wives, partners, sons, daughters, and other walks of life. We help make Clarksville what it is today.

It was also said, last week, that we did not need diversity in government because people were around before there was diversity. Yes, they were. Women were around before, but didn’t get the right to vote until 1920 with the 19th Amendment, and it was not until 1974 with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that women could apply for a credit card and open a bank account without a male co-signer. People of color were around before, but it was not until the Civil Rights Act that required that they be treated the same. People with disabilities were around, but it took the Americans with Disabilities Act to make government and other public places accessible to them. Even though these groups were around before, they needed protection and understanding in order to have the same rights and protections as others. LGBTQ+ people have been around for just as long, and unfortunately need to have protections as well to be treated fairly and equally. This is why diversity is needed until people understand that the premise that “all people are created equal.”

I will leave you with these two things. First, I invite you to coffee to talk and get to know me instead of judging me. The second is this: When Jesus was asked what the most important Jewish law was, he said it was to love God with all you heart, mind and soul. But there is a second that is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. If you can follow these two things everything else works out. So just love, not hate. Thank you for your time.

Michelle Ann Wilson