Being transgender is not something you just decide to be. It is something that is who you are as a person. There are many individuals who are constantly persecuted for just trying to be who they truly are. We live in a world where social norms are expected. This means that in order to be socially correct we have to correspond with who we are. Anyone who attacks someone for trying to be the best version of themselves is a bully. Moreover, anyone who attacks someone for being who they truly are is a criminal.

In Dallas, transgender people are under attack. Chynal Lindsey and Muhlaysia Booker were killed because they simply wanted to express the way they see themselves. The problem is rising right here at home and it needs to be stopped. Less than a week ago, we had an individual killed because of her right to be who she was. Let me say that again, who SHE was. Each year the numbers continue to get higher and higher and this is not a good thing. We need to work on protecting these people. They deserve their right to privacy and to live their lives in the best way possible.

These individuals deserve allies and they deserve to speak their truth. This is who they are, and it is who they were meant to be. Physical appearance is one thing but one’s body parts does not determine who they are as a person. Anatomy does not determine what someone is. These individuals are subject to the same constitutional civil liberties as everyone else and is our duty to fight for them.

The media is complicit. The media does not always wait to get the facts before reporting. The media deadnames these individuals without regard for the dead or for the thousands and thousands of living transgender people. It is shameful and it needs to end.

As a former Republican and conservative journalist, I played a role in attacking these individuals in the past. I did not understand what they were trying to accomplish. I bear the burden of being part of the problem. We can and should do better by letting people have the freedom to do what they want when it does not affect us.

I had the honor of meeting a woman named Riley Drew last month. She was not transgender but a member of the LGBTQ and a transgender advocate. She didn’t push her politics on me but showed me her heart and the share information with me as I asked for it. Sometimes it takes finding the one person who can get through to you and share the information that you need to know.

We have come to a time in politics where everyone has to agree 100% or we fight over it. Our exchange taught me some valuable lessons that hadn’t considered.

As a conservative, I am someone who believes in freedom, but I was using my authority to attack others right to freedom. As someone studying psychology, I wanted to help people, but I was hurting them. I needed to do better and I am.

This article originally appeared on Daily Kos.