Gender, genitalia don't always match
Just a word or two in behalf of transgender people. The first word is "genes," the word for the blueprint that directs the formation of every person's unique sexual orientation as well as every other mental and physical characteristic. As fate would have it or as God intended, these genes sometimes form a person's sexual orientation and then forget to match up the right genitalia. And, of course, genitalia does not determine sexual orientation. The next two words are "acceptance and love." Transgenders are people just like all other human beings. They are our friends, neighbors and relatives. They would dearly love to live their lives without undue attention or attacks from those who intentionally or unintentionally misunderstand the science of sexual orientation. The long settled science makes clear that sexual orientation is determined separately and apart from the formation of genitalia. All this happens in the womb unbeknownst to anyone until the transgender person figures it all out. When that happens, the trans person needs all the acceptance and love that she or he can get.
Can they be encouraged by the fact Chattanooga is overwhelmingly Christian and defines God as love itself?
Blake Moore
Trump the cad; this too shall pass
How do I see Donald Trump? Answer: His overreaching instinct to prevail, as in "The Art of the Deal," not to serve "we the people." He's a cad; his massive ego has him marching along the road to selfdom.
When Shakespeare wrote the "truth will out," he surely had someone like Trump in mind. The truth will out. It surely is fair to summarize his content, based upon the entire primary as I write, as intellectually austere.
If "The Donald" were to win, his pragmatics, as opposed to Republican conservatives, just might force the GOP past Mitch McConnell's "party of no."
Finally, Donaldland is not a place where conservative heroes go to find themselves; it is a place where identity comes apart. But in America, this too shall pass.
Dr. B.J. Paschal
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Seniors scammed on city sewer tax
On the topic of senior taxes, I would remind all of our politicians, particularly those in the city of Chattanooga, that our seniors are grossly overtaxed on many fronts. A few years after Lookout Valley was annexed for example, the city installed a sewer system, then imposed such a high price to tie-on that many, including my parents, had no way to afford to tie-on. But everybody has to pay sewer taxes regardless of whether they used it, so to this day, my mom (Dad passed on several years back) still pays sewer tax every month, even though she has absolutely nothing to show for it. Literally thousands of dollars poured "down the drain" - a "tax," if you will, on the poor to pay for the more well-to-do to have niceties, such as bike lanes downtown. The City Council should be so embarrassed and ashamed about this mistreatment of our seniors that it should install sewer hookups in the homes of all of the seniors in her position at the city's cost. Either that or revoke the sewer tax for non-users and refund the sewer taxes paid to date, plus interest.
Mark Poteet