Shortly after last November’s election, I had a couple people verbally attack me at a softball game. As a trans woman, I decided that I was going to create a hashtag (#batflipsforthetrevorproject) and donate $5 for every home run to Trevor Project to turn that negative into a positive.

After President Donald Trump decided to ban trans military members, something I consider one of the dumbest moves ever by a President, I decided I would do something about that too.

I started a second hashtag, #batflipsfortranspeople. As an athlete, I have a couple ways I can bring some attention to a cause, and I figured since I can hit home runs and everyone digs the long ball, that's how I would make this one happen. So, for every home run I hit in my softball league, I will be donating another $5 to the National Center for Transgender Equality.

The first day I started this hashtag, we raised $395 for NCTE. That’s amazing. People have jumped on board and made commitments to donate for every hit or every home run I have for the rest of this season, and it’s been nothing short of inspiring.

As a trans athlete, I love that I am able to have a positive impact in what feels like a negative time. It’s easy to sit back and be upset about what is happening around me, but it is equally easy to find a way to contribute in a positive way.

Trans people are constantly fighting to merely be able to exist in this country, let alone be celebrated the way the rest of the population is. I constantly hear that I shouldn’t be allowed to compete with women because I was assigned male at birth.

I hear constantly that trans women are stronger and faster and train differently than cisgender women so it isn’t fair. Katelyn Burns wrote a fantastic piece on this, just to settle some of those thoughts and fears.

At the end of the day, I am an athlete and have been my whole life. I had dreams of playing in stadiums or arenas in front of thousands of people and hearing them chant my name. I wanted to win a Super Bowl or a World Series. I wanted to be the MVP. I wanted to be in the Hall of Fame.

Clearly, none of that is going to happen, but I play in a league and I play on a couple of tournament teams, so I have a chance to win championships with them and I have the opportunity to win MVP trophies with them. I get to play in front of tens people, so I will have to accept that.

I am frankly appalled at the fact that Trump decided he thinks trans people who are fulfilling their roles in the military are not a worthwhile investment, and that he would rather have 15,000 less people willingly putting their lives on the line rather than invest in the happiness, well being, and potential of American citizens. Aren’t transgender people who want to serve in our military people who that might help Make America Great Again?

What I, and we, don’t have to accept, is hateful attitudes, legislation and bigotry based solely in fear and clickbait headlines. We can change the story. We can positively impact our country. We can make America great again.

However, we can’t do that while alienating citizens of this country. We can’t Make America Great Again while we say that some citizens are less-than. If some of our people are less-then, then we can’t think that this country is going to be great as a whole.

Want to help me impact the LGBT community and America as a whole? Follow me on Twitter @TheJamieNeal. I’ll post videos of the bat flips that rival Jose Bautista and Bret Boone, and you can donate to Trevor Project and the National Center for Transgender Equality too. I hope you will.

Jamie Neal is a regular contributor at Outsports. You can follow her on Twitter @TheJamieNeal. She is also on Facebook.