Gahler vs. Cassilly is petting sniping, Republican style; uplift trans lives | READER COMMENTARY

Gahler vs. Cassilly is petty sniping, Republican style

In his letter to the Aegis, Sheriff Jeff Gahler rails against letter writer Patrick Wallis as having written a sleazy hit piece against him. (“Harford County government devolves into a sleazefest,” March, 15).

I read the Patrick Wallis’ letter and loved it. It was incendiary, not sleazy. It was not a “hit piece” but a “wit piece.” Sheriff Gahler didn’t seem to understand that Mr. Wallis is a letter writer and not a journalist. He did not have to call the sheriff before he wrote that letter. Mr. Wallis concluded from his observations of the interactions between County Executive Robert Cassilly,County Council member Aaron Penman, and Sheriff Gahler that these men are wasting county money and time on fractious nonsense and power plays. They all belong to the dysfunctional Republican Party, where internecine warfare is front and center, and competing interests and agendas clash without a peaceful resolution or accommodation.

If Mr.Cassilly thwarted Sheriff Gahler’s wish for a new and expanded training facility for sheriff’s deputies and against his own previous pronouncements, that shows things between the two men have devolved into personal animus and Patrick Wallis is right.

What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or, Mr. Cassilly’s obduracy about denying the sheriff a new training facility or Sheriff Gahler’s obsession with a new training facility? The more it is denied by Cassilly, the more gargantuan the need for it in Gahler’s mind. Who knows?

Notwithstanding such profound philosophical questions, both are at an impasse, and three members of the fractious Republican family are at bullfights goring each other rather than at bull roasts, camaraderie overflowing.

That was the general message from Patrick Wallis’ facile typing fingers. Picking the man’s letter apart with picayune particulars may be Sheriff Gahler’s privilege, but it was more of the same sandbox argument: “He did it first, not me, mommy.”

The whole matter is puerile, and Sheriff Gahler should accept he’s met his match in Cassilly. He will get no training facility. After all, Cassilly is following the Republican ethos of balancing the budget, and he thinks he can do it on Gahler’s back while getting Gahler’s goat.

As Sheriff Gahler writes, the First Amendment does not have an honesty requirement. If it did, Donald Trump would not be the nominee of the Republican Party in 2024.

You reap what you sow, locally and nationally, dear Republican Party.

— Usha Nellore, Bel Air

Let’s join together and celebrate, uplift trans lives

International Transgender Day of Visibility is March 31. It is a day to recognize and celebrate the achievements of trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people worldwide and in our community.

We recognize the bravery of our trans siblings, friends, family, and co-workers as they continue to fight for equality, inclusion, and the full recognition of their human rights, all while balancing life’s responsibilities and navigating a society that very often is attempting to discount their existence and disenfranchise them.

The Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Foundation’s first event of 2024 was supposed to be a lighthearted happy hour to celebrate the new year. Instead, on Jan. 2 we hosted a remembrance service for Meghan Lewis, a local trans activist who was killed outside of her home in Bel Air. In 2023, the Human Rights Campaign reported the violent deaths of 32 transgender people nationwide, two of them in Maryland.

Transgender people are also more likely to consider suicide; 81% of trans adults and 50% of trans and nonbinary youth have thought about suicide. But that has not stopped some of our Harford County delegates from sponsoring legislation designed to ostracize trans people, legislation that failed in previous years and would again fail during the 2024 session. They’re joined in their bigotry by some members of our Board of Education who are more focused on banning pride flags and pronouns than making schools safe for all students. When will it stop?

To all of the trans members of our community: We see you, we love you, and we will continue to advocate for you. During this International Transgender Day of Visibility, we call on the many allies in our community to amplify trans voices, speak out against proposed anti-trans policies and legislation, and ensure that trans folks know that they are supported. One trans death in our community is too much. This is not what Harford County should be known for.

— Kurt Doan

President, the Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Foundation