I am not running for political office. I am not afraid of what voters think or what donors do, so I can say it. I have no place in high society. I don't have to worry about being shunned by the in-crowd, so I can say it. I am not a performer. I don't have to fear that people will stop coming to my shows, so I can say it. I am not in business. I am not concerned about losing customers or suffering a boycott, so I can say it. Actually, I am retired. I can't be fired or reprimanded, so I can say it. I am too old to surrender to peer pressure. I no longer care what others think about me, so I can say it. Here is what I can say. The idea that men and boys should share bathrooms, locker rooms and showers with women and girls is crazy. That is what a lot of people think, but for various reasons, they can't say it.

There are men and boys who identify as women or girls (transgenders). There are people who identify as animals whose identities range from furries who dress up as animals to otherkins who identify as nonhumans. There are people who identify as plants (plantkins). Some poor souls called transabled actually identify as disabled though they are not. They may identify as blind or as amputees, and some may actually injure themselves to live up to their identity. Many of these people who need serious help won't get it, because the people who are running this national asylum are more dysfunctional than they are. The idea that men and boys should share bathrooms, locker rooms and showers with women and girls is crazy. Someone ought to say it, and I can, so I did.

Richard Beam, Knoxville