And you need some love and care,
And nothing, nothing is going right...

...then I find myself looking for something...anything...to brighten up even the darkest night.

There is Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, who posted on Facebook about the anti-trans legislation the GOP is promoting in his state.

They are wrong on the issue and wrong on the morality of it in my opinion. I’ll veto it.

--Dayton

I personally am worried to go to the men’s bathroom because I get misgendered every day. I am not going in there to look at people, I am going in there to go to the bathroom and get out as fast as possible because even I don’t feel comfortable in there.

--George Yocom, 12, Minneapolis

We've already lost North Carolina as a safe place to visit. That state just happens to be where my grandchildren live.

Kansas and Missouri are two place I have lived in my life (Leavenworth and Joplin). But Kansas is putting a bounty on trans people using restrooms. And Missouri legislators are similarly trying to dehumanize us.

It's almost like you're treating someone like they're not human, like they don't deserve the same thing as you.

--Landon Patterson, Oak Park, Missouri

Individual rights are under attack, but not for everyone and not everywhere. This is aimed at transgender people in many places across the country where Republicans hold power. This current attack on individual rights is spearheaded by the GOP, which right now should stand for Gender Oppression Party. Kansas is trying to implement a law where cisgender citizens are awarded $2500 for catching a transgender person in what they see as the “wrong” bathroom. What could possibly go wrong if that’s enacted?

--Marcy Cook, The Mary Sue

In Los Angeles a transwoman of color is murdered in broad daylight in front of a crowd of dozens...and in Rancho Cucomonga a trans veteran is refused a haircut by a barber who cites his religious rights.

Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

--1 Corinthians 11:14-15)

Of course one only gets there by refusing the trans guy's identity as a man.

This stuff is all about refusing transgender people the right to be who we are.

So where is the brightness?

It emanates from Delaware, which became the fifteenth state to ban insurance companies from limiting or excluding health care coverage for transgender people.

Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart issued a bulletin Wednesday that specifically prohibits private insurers from denying, canceling, terminating, limiting, restricting or refusing to issue plans based on a person's gender identity, transgender status or if the person is undergoing a gender transition.

Companies also cannot impose different health insurance premiums or rates based on a person's gender identity.

A denial or cancellation will now be considered a violation under Delaware's Unfair Trade Practices Act. The state approved legislation that added gender identity to Delaware's anti-discrimination laws. The state could fine insurers up to $50,000 or take legal action if they fail to comply.

Under the state's anti-discrimination act, “gender identity” means “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth.”

Those other places I mentioned above? They are filled with people who apparently are confined to a world in which chromosomes are destiny...and they don't really understand chromosomes.

An increasing number of large employers are voluntarily covering transgender treatment, following medical recognition that it can lead to healthier outcomes overall for the individuals involved. The number was up to 418 last year, from none in 2002, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.