BY A WORRIED MOM
Los Alamos

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter anonymously to protect my family and myself from public attention. With the increasing attacks from Trump and others in the GOP against transgender people, I am deeply concerned about how our local schools handle families with transgender members.

As a transgender woman and a parent, I want to know what will happen if my child talks about their family at school. Will they be punished? Will he be forced to misgender their mom or some of their friends? These are real fears for families like mine. I personally know at least three other parents at my child’s elementary school who share these concerns, and I am not even particularly social. I also know of transgender students in our schools, and I worry about their treatment—especially given what I went through as a child.

At one time, a scientist in Los Alamos gave a TED Talk on her research into the biology of gender at the labs (link here). This is not an abstract issue; it affects tens or even hundreds of people in our community. And frankly, many of us are scared. We just want to live our lives without fear of being outed or having our children harassed because of who we are.

Some states and school districts, like those in California, have stood up against anti-trans policies. But what about Los Alamos? With no safe private school options in our area, I fear that our community may be alienating a significant portion of its residents. My understanding is that New Mexico law protects LGBTQ+ individuals and explicitly forbids assisting the U.S. government in targeting transgender people—but I don’t know the full extent of those protections or how they apply in practice.

I am also sending variations of this letter to our state officials, but I believe it’s important for our local leaders—the school board, county council, and others—to speak out. Whether collectively or individually, I ask that they clarify where they stand so that families like mine can make informed decisions about our futures.