To the Editor:

Opponents of Proposition 1 may swear up and down that they’re not “fear mongering,” but letter writer Peter Salerno sure does seem worked up about the so-called “radical left,” since he mentions them not once but three times in a single letter [“Prop 1 Goes Against Everything America Stands For,” The Altamont Enterprise, Oct. 31, 2024].

My interpretation of what America stands for is freedom and equal rights for all, regardless of race, faith, and sexual orientation, very much including anyone more conservative that I am politically. As the editor’s note makes clear, minors cannot obtain gender-affirming care without parental consent.

Does Salerno believe that trans people, including teenagers, simply don’t exist? Since I know more than a few, as do my young adult children in their 20s, both of whom have close friends who have transitioned, I can assure him that trans people are very much alive, are human beings, and deserve protection from discrimination under the law.

As a heterosexual married woman with kids, I believe the American family comes in various forms, not just mine. Proposition 1 is an important step in recognizing the fact that our country is in fact a pluralistic one — and that not excluding the rights of others out of ignorance or bias is what truly makes America “great.”

Katherine Dieckmann

Westerlo