With a stifled vocabulary, The CDC cannot protect the American people.

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Just about a year ago, I got called out on social media for not using the right vernacular for asking a question with political and social connotations on facebook. Following this,  I have stayed largely quiet on social media when it comes to politics because confrontation over semantics on the same side seems inefficient. But also because I didn't trust myself to always use the right words and I didn't want to upset someone again by using the wrong ones. And because there are so many people fighting the good fight, ones who always seem to know the right words to use, why should I? Why should I on here? Why should I run the risk of in-fighting when it’s so much easier to just talk about sequins and puppies and cupcakes?

Because the CDC doesn’t want to recognize “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

That’s why.

Because we are all “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

That’s why.

And because every voice counts. And because I’m sorry if the way I articulate it is incorrect. Correct me please. We're all always learning.

Because I am vulnerable and entitled. I believe in evidence and science, and if you don’t, that’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have the ability to discuss them. I believe that we need to continue to discuss fetuses, and that they are so much more than whether or not you choose to birth what they become.

Because diversity is not a word, it’s an idea / one that can’t be defined totally or denied no matter if it escapes your lips or doesn’t or if It appears on a page or it doesn’t. One that can take the shape of another word if this one is not somehow allowed. But because diversity is the known word that allows us to discuss this idea easily and fairly, or as fairly as a word that carries so much weight can be discussed.

And, because a transgendered person is just a person. A person. No more interesting or boring than a person who was born into a body whose genitals match their gender. A person. My friends. Your lawyer. Your friend. My barista. Your neighbor. Just a person. Unfortunately not enough people understand this, and so to take this word out of the vocabulary of the CDC puts this group of people in clear and present danger, especially if we can’t somehow define our friends as vulnerable in certain situations. And because to not be able to define the beauty of diversity within these confines will create a ripple effect that could potentially amplify how some people see those who are somehow different from them as a lech on their precious white America.

And none of that matters because every word they are trying to diminish somehow describes a human being. And with every forbidden word they are creating more and more barriers are defined to separate us from one another; to put labels on each other; to define differences.

And with every word they take away, they not only deny a basic right of freedom of speech, but begin to make the English language smaller and smaller until it’s only full of words a handful of people want to hear. A language that only contains vocabulary to protect those the government deigns important enough to discuss (This country was built on language that only protected some to be honest). All within the name of science (even though they don’t really believe In it).

The CDC cannot protect the American people without the use of these words. It cannot do it’s job. A rose by any other name may smell as sweet but a rose is not a protected class. Words are just words, but when qualifying humans, their impact is felt. Think of what happened in the years that Reagan refused to say AIDS out loud. Silence equals death.

All this to say. Love thy neighbor. Trust thy neighbor. Educate thy neighbor. Especially if they are different from you. Keep your vocabulary full of words that are uncomfortable to you. And help protect those who the government doesn't deem worthy of their protection.

https://www.translifeline.org/https://www.plannedparenthood.org/https://www.aclu.org/https://www.splcenter.org

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