Protect the Dolores River landscapes
Re: “Advocates still hoping to protect canyonlands,” Feb. 9 news story
As a proud member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, I welcome the legislative efforts to protect the Dolores River, such as the proposed National Conservation Area in the southern stretch of the river. This landscape is not only ecologically important but holds deep cultural and historical significance for our people.
Ute people and other Indigenous people have lived upon and stewarded these lands for generations, and our ongoing rights to hunt and use these lands are affirmed in the Brunot Treaty of 1874. Protecting it through strong federal designations ensures that its canyons, wildlife and sacred lands will be preserved for future generations.
At the same time, I hope that similar protections will be extended to the northern reaches of the Dolores River in Mesa and Montrose counties. These lands are equally vital, with rich cultural ties to Indigenous history and landscapes that deserve careful stewardship. A comprehensive approach to protecting the lower Dolores should recognize the river’s full significance, from McPhee Dam to Gateway.
It is also essential that tribal voices are heard and our sovereignty be respected throughout this process. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, along with other Indigenous nations, has a long-standing relationship with this land — one that predates any modern jurisdiction. Our knowledge, perspectives, and concerns should help shape the management of these protected areas.
Andrea Martinez, Cortez
Setting up a regretful legacy on transgender rights
Re: “Trump’s assault on transgender rights isn’t a sign of strength,” Feb. 16 commentary
Like so many things President Donald Trump does, the cruelty is not simply a byproduct but the entire point of his executive order on transgender rights. I agree that it is a profound act of cowardice by a petty, ridiculous man.
I am afraid that it will only be with time, and perhaps a fortuitous personal connection, that the leadership of the Republican Party will recognize it is on the wrong side of history on this issue. Ronald Reagan could not possibly have cared less about federal funding for research on HIV/AIDS — until his old Hollywood chum, Rock Hudson, died of it. Dick Cheney, as rock-ribbed a conservative as ever there was, parted ways with the GOP on the single issue of gay rights. His daughter came out as a lesbian.
One might think that the party of Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation (the executive order of its day) freeing an entire race from bondage, might occasionally wonder whether gratuitous discrimination against a powerless and oppressed minority, no matter how politically expedient at the moment, might one day come to be regarded with a similar contempt and disgust as the institution of slavery itself.
Ross Buchanan, Denver
Respect in the restroom
Re: “Let the girls have their restroom privacy,” Feb. 16 letter to the editor
A letter writer wants to give the girl’s restroom in a local high school a heroic stance: a refuge for girls who are menstruating, a time out from embarrassment. She thinks transgender people need to stay out of a girls’ public bathroom so her precious privacy is maintained.
Here’s the thing: Everyone using the public restroom has a reasonable expectation of privacy, including trans persons.
In stating that she’d be uncomfortable with a trans person using the girls’ public restroom, she’s making it about her own voyeurism, about checking out if people look OK and have the right equipment to use the girls’ bathroom in a private stall where your privacy is secured by a shut door.
What does she expect a trans person to do? Trans persons are not pedophiles or rapists. They are simply people going about their day. Why can’t you mind your own business?
Unisex bathrooms have been around for a long time around the world. It isn’t a big deal. Shut your stall door. Stop judging others. And stop whining about your own victimization when your bigotry against trans persons is the only basis of your complaint.
Susan Altenhofen, Fort Collins
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