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The word "transgender" always sparks a discussion.

It’s a subject that’s become quite the lightning rod in American culture. The News Journal recently discovered that after publishing a series of articles about one child’s transgender story.

The story touched on sexuality, identity, and health care. As expected, it caused quite the reaction.

Some comments were supportive:

“What wonderful news! So happy for you, Trinity. There's still a lot of work to do, and all the angry responses here only make my statement even more true.”

“By all the negative responses, it is apparent that people don't understand about transgender children/adults. People, it's not that you want to be another sex, it's that you are the opposite sex of what your genitals are. All of us 'normal' people should just be glad that we don't have the struggles that many people have. I'm happy for this young lady.”

And others were not:

“This is absolutely sickening. Our tax dollars pay for this child abuse, and then when he decides he's done playing girl, we'll have to pay for his reversal. When will the liberal insanity end?”

“This is so ridiculous there are no words! Has everyone gone completely crazy? I know people who are truly in need of medical coverage or disability and have been turned down more than once, families going without food to pay for medical bills, or going without medical care so they can eat! You folks should be ashamed of yourselves. You’re a bunch of self-serving thieves! Wake up people!”

This conversation won’t be ending anytime soon.

For instance, this week the state of Texas made national news when a bill was introduced that could prohibit transgender students from participating in high school sports. The focus of the bill is steroid use, but some critics are saying its true purpose is to discriminate against transgender teens. Earlier this year, a Texas teenage transgender boy was allowed to wrestle only girls because his birth certificate says he was female at birth. As you can guess, the situation caused a stir, and some people complained that the teen's prescribed testosterone treatment gave him an unfair advantage.

We as a news organization will not shy away from reporting on controversial and divisive issues.

Some of the story comments above lacked a sense of a humanity, and that's the most disappointing thing about how we communicate in the current cultural and political climate. We define "discourse" as hurling insults or making broad, inaccurate assumptions. No one group is guilty of this behavior. We all are.

It’s fine to disagree, and everyone has a right to voice their opinions.

But doing so shouldn’t be to the detriment of another human life.