Mike Lee must go.

Publicly shaming another person is an all too familiar refrain for the senator; in this case slamming a BYU professor who acknowledged publicly that she has a transgendered child.

This type of open bigotry was a trademark for the likes of Senator Joe McCarthy and Governor George Wallace. It is common practice for presidential candidate Donald Trump. It should be noted that it was also a highly refined strategy among the leadership of the Third Reich. It should not be tolerated by any of us.

In his bio, Senator Lee parades his membership and leadership involvement in the LDS Church, as if this affiliation were a credential, a Utah litmus test of his fitness for office. The senator would do well then to review LDS church policy and subsequent counsel on transgenderism before enlisting his army in supporting his personal bigotry.

In the LDS Church’s general handbook, there are two sentences referencing the complicated nature of discussions around transgenderism. The section closes with this counsel. “They–and their family and friends–face complex challenges and should be treated with sensitivity, kindness, compassion, and an abundance of Christlike love.”

Utahns deserve better than a bigot for its national representative, worse still a bigot who makes sport of his prejudice, who adds ridicule in an attempt to amuse his followers, and who lacks an abundance of love for those not like him.

Mike Lee must go.

Mark Peterson

Logan

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