Scott Bessent

We have

Americans across this country living in fear about rising health care costs, about the fact that we're going to see decimating cuts to SNAP.

We have active duty military families in line for food pantries.

And amidst all of this, the focus of so many is just how much bigotry they can engage in.

I think of on 9-11 when my teacher pulled me out of school, pulled me out of class rather, a classmate of mine, myself, and told us that we may get bullied because of what had just happened.

And we didn't understand what had happened.

And in fact, we were very lucky to have a teacher as kind and caring as that because most Muslim students did not have that.

And yet, what I really remember from that interaction was the understanding that now I was distinct.

There was something about me that was different from my classmates.

And it's a lesson that I was made to learn again and again.

Because a few years later when I returned to New York City after a trip with my family abroad, I was taken aside at JFK and put in a double mirrored room with immigration agents and asked if I had just come from attending a terrorist training camp.

And if I had intentions on attacking this country and what my thoughts were on the government.

I was 15 years old and I was terrified.

Yeah, those were both bills that mainly addressed our LGBTQ population.

They were mean.

They were unnecessary.

Most of the time, they were meant to score political points and or hurt me in a 2023 election.

What did they say?

They were trying to eliminate different types of therapies, both for adults and for kids.

And I think that there can be certain... You're talking about sex change.