Transplant's Take

Dear Editor,

Intolerance. The Holocaust. Wars. Terrorism. It was a common theme when I saw the Holocaust Museum recently (not just Jewish faith, but those who were gay, mentally/physically ill, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc). When I went to Arlington National Cemetery, it seemed almost ironic that the Confederate and Union Soldiers were buried on the same knoll. There are even slaves buried there. Death is the great equalizer, and none of us get out alive. I went to the Newseum which documented intolerance in great detail, starting hundreds of years ago to the most recent headlines we’ve seen.

Why am I writing this? Because of a narrow-minded viewpoint that appeared in our newspaper. It sickened me to think that someone would put such venom from pen to paper. They weren’t brave enough to sign their name though and that is all I need to know. They don’t represent me. And, they certainly don’t represent the people I have grown to call friends and acquaintances in my 17 years here as a transplant (which apparently they have issues with transplants too). This world is so much bigger than Glasgow, Mont., Valley County, Mont., Montana, the US and North America. It makes me sad to think how few people have had opportunities to experience that. I often say, “Diversity is not a weekend in Billings” but I have heard comments from people who seem to think it is.

You know what? We are all humans. We all want to live our best lives and be happy doing it. Other than a few extremists, I truly believe that is the goal of everyone.

To those involved with the Fort Peck Summer Theater, play on. Don’t let narrow-mindedness change what you do. All I knew of Cabaret was a photo in my mind of Liza Minelli in fishnet stockings. I knew it wasn’t something to bring a child too, even though I’d never seen a play or movie of it before. Cabaret wasn’t about sex, or homosexuality. It was about how one political agenda spread and ruined the lives of many, and how people died for nothing more than being who they were.

It’s been many years since Run From Your Wife was on the stage, but it made fun of having an affair and the women were in lingerie. Hmmm, no letters then. Last year, in Grease, there were quite a few make out scenes. Again, no letter. This year, a slight hint of homosexuality, and someone goes off the rails and skewers the theater, the newspaper editor and all of us transplants. Hmmm, I suggest people look at a calendar and see that it is 2018. People can love whom they want, when they want. We don’t need laws about which bathroom a person goes into. Yes, we need to care about the hundreds of thousands of kids who are in the foster care system in the US and orphanages globally, just as much as we need to care about families being separated at borders. You know why? Because we are human beings.

We also have so many bigger issues to battle than intolerance. A burgeoning national debt, terrorists who want nothing more than to harm innocent people and destroy our democracy, diseases that wipe out entire populations, famines, droughts, wildfires, disasters, infrastructure that is old and failing, a changing climate changing the way entire communities live, farmers/ranchers trying to feed 7 billion people on this planet in a sustainable way. There are so many more issues worthy of putting pen to paper for.

Signed, with <3, a 17.5 year transplant who adopted Glasgow as home.

Sincerely,

Tanja Fransen

Glasgow, MT