This morning I watched the first episode of the second season of Jon Stewart’s show The Problem with Jon Stewart (on Apple TV). I learned things I had never known and watching brought back poignant memories of people I have known and stories about themselves others have told me over the years.

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I particularly liked the segment of the show which is his interview (very well done) with the Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who sat there and calmly stated the most outrageous things over and over again about how she personally views and how the State has chosen to view the rights of individuals of any age who do not feel they fit in a binary definition of gender/sexuality. The law in question is an anti-trans bill the State legislature passed last year and is now being challenged in court.

Click here to view an article on the Mother Jones website which has a link to the segment and valuable context. The best thing to do, though, is to view the entire episode.

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As I watched Rutledge parrot the party lines over and over, I got angry. Stewart did an excellent job of asking probing questions based in fact and research and refusing to let her hide behind patronizing throwaway lines of nonsense. Even Dan Rather gave him thumbs up via Twitter (see the article for more on this).

And, I admire Stewart’s poise. I have interviewed a lot of people as a tech journalist, and I have had some heated exchanges with tech professionals about topics such as Internet privacy (me being for, they being against). In this case, though, I would have gone into Scorched-Earth-Fire-Breathing-Dragon Mode within about the first five minutes.

Well-earned kudos aside, I wish he had asked a few more questions, especially when she talked about how the law “protects children” but does not prohibit parents from seeking help and advice from medical professionals. I wanted him to ask what else the State had done in addition to or before turning to legislation, seeing as how it seems so obsessed with this topic and feels such conviction about the correctness of its actions. For example, what has the State done in the way of expanding medical coverage for all residents, making sure they are able to access the needed medical and mental health services?

Also, what has the State done to expand its training and outreach on this topic to teachers and others the children come in contact with on a regular basis? She did not mention any other efforts, so I am guessing there is nothing else. Why, then, go directly to making laws that are a clear intrusion of the State into the very private lives of its residents? As Stewart made her admit, the State of Arkansas has not done this in any other area of private or family life.

At the end of the interview, Stewart says to her, after thanking her for meeting with him, he feels the law is wrong and is struck down in court. I agree with him, and I feel for all who are searching for the most authentic versions of themselves, be they four or 40 or 94. I hope you will be able to find that self and are free to live as that self. These are deeply personal and private matters, and the State (any State) has no business passing laws like this.

To close, I would like to share with all who are searching and all those who feel they have found themselves but still feel unaccepted by others, a portion of a poem from one of my favorite Irish poets (see below). And, may the road rise to meet you–always and forever.

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,

May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

As the wind loves to call things to dance,

May your gravity by lightened by grace…

As water takes whatever shape it is in,

So free may you be about who you become.

–John O’Donohue, from For Equilibrium, a Blessing