Please TN Help Our Children
The world lately has gotten exhausting. In my hometown, on March 27, 2023, a mass elementary school shooting took place. At around 10 am, the armed assailant Audrey Hale killed six people at the elementary school. Three children and three adults tragically lost their lives that day. There are not enough words to express the devastation the Nashville community feels. My heart mourns for the loss of these innocent lives. But also in my heart is anger. Anger and frustration towards Tennessee lawmakers. I am infuriated with the people who are supposed to help protect their people but fail to do so. The most recent bill Tennessee lawmakers are trying to pass restricts “adult cabaret performances” in public or in the presence of children and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship.” Tennessee’s government officials have done more to ban drag shows than regulate gun control in the state. The implication of banning drag shows from children shows what lawmakers believe is a genuine threat when the other real danger is taking children’s lives. Currently, in Tennessee, anyone over the age of 21 is allowed the permitless carry of handguns, both concealed and unconcealed. But forbid if a child sees male dancers dressed in women’s clothing, right?
Something else that is bothersome about the Nashville shooting is the situation around the shooter. Audrey Hale, the shooter, was a transgender man. The fact that Hale was a transgender man was highlighted in the media and supposedly “played a role” in the shooting. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, “how much hormones like testosterone and medication for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking? Everyone can stop blaming guns now.” Ignorant tweets from high-profile government officials warrant violence and danger for the LGBTQ+ community. No scientific evidence proves that identifying as transgender is predictive of violence.
No one can honestly know why Audrey Hale did what he did on that tragic day. All we can do now, as the public, is contact government officials to urge them that change needs to happen now. We cannot continue in a world where schools are no longer safe for children.
