by A. Barrett Staff Writer
After the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District’s monthly meeting the accord? on July 26, 2016, Charles F Edwards, a candidate for seat #1, was speaking to Fire Commissioner Matt Smith and made this statement “that if it walked or rolled into a bathroom where my wife or granddaughter was using I would break its jaw!”
I then walked over to Charles F Edwards and Fire Commissioner Matt Smith to confirm what I had just heard. Mr. Edwards confirmed “that yes I was talking about Fire Commissioner Linda Carter”
Fire Commissioner Linda Carter, US military Vietnam vet and advocate for the senior, disabled and all-round well liked in the community and is transgender female. Fire Commissioner Carter is not currently up for reelection.
Edwards also mentioned to Smith in a joking manner “That I would spend one hundred thousand dollar to win this campaign.”
Edwards’ candidates Facebook page states, “Let’s bring integrity back to the Lehigh Acres Fire Commission!”
Edwards’ Facebook page says, “Most important to me is to make sure the citizens of Lehigh Acres, and the firemen that work here feel like at least one person on the board will listen to them and make their feelings heard!”
We also reached out to Fire Commissioner Matt Smith and asked him about his feelings on this matter. Smith said, you should use the same restroom that you where identified at birth.
Chairperson Cathy Kruse of the LAFC&RD who is currently up for reelection for seat #1 also, She was unavailable for comment at the time of the posting of this article.
We reached out to the local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group here in Lee County, Pride SWFL and this is the response we received from Arlene Goldberg
a LGBT Activist
It appears Charles Edwards, currently running for Fire Commissioner in Lehigh Acres, has no tolerance for those who are different than him even in his own community. He is uneducated and ignorant about transgendered persons, by the way who are citizens of Lee County and pay taxes just like Charles Edwards does. THEY ARE HERE, Mr. Edwards!!!
A reporter of the Lehigh Acres Gazette overheard Charles Edwards make this comment, “If it walked or rolled into a bathroom where my wife or granddaughter was using I would break its jaw.” IT IS A PERSON!! NOT AN IT!!!
Charles Edwards was referring to a person who is currently a Fire Commissioner on the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District. He was referring to someone’s gender identification….a transgender person.
Charles Edwards, transgender people have utilized restrooms that fit their identity forever….you just never knew…most of the time you can’t even tell. Just imagine a person identifying as a woman, dressed as a woman and looking just like a woman entering the men’s restroom. Is that what you want them to do???? ARE YOU SERIOUS???? It doesn’t make any sense at all!!! The result would be disastrous!!! Think about it. All that person wants to do is relieve themself like you do…
Charles Edwards is so worried about what a trans women will do to cisgender((hetero-sexual) women and girls in women’s restrooms, but I’m more worried about what cisgender (hetero-sexual) men and boys will do to trans women and girls in men’s restrooms.
There has never been any evidence that a trans person has ever attacked people (non-transgender) in a public restroom. “Trans bathroom panic” (as it has been coined) is a harmful, bigoted phenomena and it is anti-trans. Transgender persons are not a threat. What about the one in five women that are raped at some point in their lives? What about the fact that trans women are 1.8 times more likely to experience sexual violence when compared with other survivors?
The reality is that people are making excuses for their bigotry, for their anti-trans feelings, for their transphobia, for their hatred of trans women. If people really cared more about women and girls, they wouldn’t treat them like they’re inferior and useless. If people really cared more about women and girls, maybe they wouldn’t deem them lesser and below their peers of the opposite sex in every corner of their lives — their jobs, their schools, their homes. If people really cared more about women and girls, they wouldn’t mock and humiliate them every chance they get. And… maybe if people cared more about trans people, they wouldn’t have already killed 11 in 2016-7 of which were transgender women.
Charles Edwards what if you were born in a body that did not fit who you truly are? What if…. inside you felt like a female, thought like a female, liked things females like but had the body of a male?? You would have been a transgender and that is not a choice!! It is genetic and does not make a person dangerous. It just makes them different. Imagine growing up in a body that is foreign to you??
To the citizens of Lehigh Acres: You don’t want a bigot serving the public…yes Charles Edwards is a bigot and has the potential to be violent by his own words.
Remember to vote but not for Charles Edwards!!!
Respectfully submitted by,
Arlene Goldberg
LGBT Activist
How do you the readers feel about this matter? Do you support civil rights or bigotry? Do you feel a candidate for elected office should be of good moral stock or honest about what they think? Leave us your comments below or email them to us at news@lehighacresgazette.com . We would like to know your thoughts on the matter in this article.
It will seem too many that I or the Lehigh Acres Gazette may have a bias or an agenda as I write this article. I wish to make it very clear I do not nor does the Lehigh Acres Gazette management have a bias or agenda in this matter. To point a fact out, I am as is the Lehigh Acres Gazette indifferent to who wins the seat for the LAFC&RD board of commissioners. I and the Lehigh Acres Gazette are merely reporting the facts on this matter and how it my concern the public trust.
You are trying to legitimize a mental disorder??
All of America is.
It appears that he doesn’t know how to use his words wisely and thinks that violence is the answer towards anyone. Transgender or not…Commissioner Carter has been very active in our community for over 25 years along with her family. Her children have become active in the community and by this guy saying this, he is not going to get votes or make many friends. He’s just going to contract the ZIKA virus instead of as the saying goes, play nice with others and learn to accept diversity. Adapt and overcome change as our world is changing on a daily basis.