- Boys aren’t choosing to be girls to play on a girls’ sports
- Heart of it All doesn’t ring true in Ohio
- Ohio State board should have stood with Kristina Johnson
- Hate speech isn’t necessarily a freedom
- Where is Andre Hill’s justice?
Boys aren’t choosing to be girls to play on a girls’ sports
Before Gov. Mike DeWine and the senators and representatives who passed House Bill 68 even think about passing a similar legislation, they should be mandated to take a SEED class— seeking educational equity and diversity — like the one I was required to take before I started teaching special education at Columbus City Schools.
They would learn that being LGBTQ is not a choice. You don’t wake up one morning and decide to be heterosexual or LGBTQ.
Anti-trans bill must be stopped.Ohio may chase my family away just like Missouri did.
One sad statistic I learned is that 1 in 10 LGBTQ children commit suicide.
Children need treatment and counseling to help come to terms with gender dysphoria. Boys aren’t choosing to be girls to play on a girls’ sports team but, as a transgender, should have that choice. Veto House Bill 68 for the sake of the children – they need help coming to terms with gender dysphoria.
Jean Hoitsma, Columbus
Heart of it All doesn’t ring true in Ohio
The significance of “Ohio, The Heart of it All,” lies in what the slogan says about Ohioans. Not just that Ohio is heart-shaped and that our state’s location on the U.S. map mirrors the heart’s location in relation to the human body.
The slogan reflects Ohio’s culture, which can be defined as what Ohioans do “when push comes to shove.”
Marijuana to abortion:4 times Ohio voters told thirsty politicians to sashay away in 2023
Caring for people everywhere – not just each other – comes to mind. Stories abound that underpin Ohio’s culture of caring.
But it is a culture which legislators in the Ohio General Assembly repeatedly defy.
House Bill 68, which targets Ohio’s transgender and non-binary children, is the latest example of the legislators’ bold culture put down.
You would think targeting Ohio’s poor records on child poverty and median household income would be the legislators’ priority. The fact that Ohio ranked 37 and 38 out of the 50 states, respectively, in the two categories, in the 2021 census, hardly suggests that Ohio cares for its children.
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Ohio needs legislators who will solve Ohio’s real problems, who are appalled that “poor records” has become a double entendre in Ohio.
Instead of legislators who because they are driven to appease a minority who harbor an anti-LGBTQ ideology, passed the heartless bill.
Only with caring state legislators will “Ohio, The Heart of it All” ever ring true, not just in the hearts and minds of Ohioans, but of Americans, and of people everywhere.
John E. Reinier Sr., Columbus
Ohio State board should have stood with Kristina Johnson
The Dec. 13 Dispatch report on the non-firing of Harvard University President Claudine Gay might recall the recent different experience at Ohio State University.
A major force pressing for the firing of Gay was reportedly a very large Harvard donor with ongoing complaints against her even before Oct. 7.
The Harvard board stuck with her.
OSU’s Kristina Johnson:‘I won’t apologize for pushing us all to achieve’ levels deserved
By comparison, the OSU trustees, egged on by GOP legislators, swiftly dumped former OSU President Kristina Johnson for not adequately kowtowing to the Wexner Mafia that runs the OSU hospital system.
Then stifled any comments in protest. While I have always been proud of the many differences between OSU and Harvard, this is not one of them.
David Pritchard, Columbus
Hate speech isn’t a freedom
Proponents of complete free speech rights may miss some important points particularly when appearing to support expressions of hate speech.
Federal and state constitutional free speech rights apply to governmental action and do not apply to private businesses and institutions.
This allows them some leeway in controlling individuals’ behavior and learn constructive interaction. In addition, such rights have been restricted by courts even dealing with governmental action when speech can cause harm to the public.
More significantly, hate speech is counterproductive. It demeans the speaker and repels the targeted listeners as well as dehumanizing them which is the real intent. It does not deal with the causes of a speaker’s anger and fear.
More:Banning hate speech is also abhorrent
It does not permit any equivalency. It does not allow any ability to communicate to resolve issues.
If we wish to resolve the issues of the day at any level, we need to separate a person’s traits from their ideas. This requires collaboration in the analysis of ideas, use of fact-based information, discussion, and an understanding that no one side or one person may hold the only correct solution.
Try it some time.
Toba Feldman, Columbus
Tax the bullets
I heard a law enforcement officer say more money would be needed to combat marijuana illegal use. Hence he wanted some of the marijuana tax to be given to law enforcement.
I agree but using that same argument, gun violence kills more children than any other cause. Therefore, gun and ammo sales need to be taxed at a higher rate to combat the illegal use of guns.
Julie May, Columbus
Ohio lawmakers should be required to take sex ed
I have patiently watched as the Ohio Legislature has tried to figure out how to invalidate Issue 1.
It is mind boggling to me how ignorant these politicians are to the medical specifics of the female anatomy.
Therefore, I propose the following: all state politicians must enroll in a sex education class (fifth grade level is fine).
They then must pass a proficiency test to prove that they understand the entire reproductive process; for example, miscarriages in the early weeks are common, that most women desperately want their children, that medical complications are far beyond the knowledge of a non-medical representative of the Ohio Legislature.
I only hope that the sages of this Ohio General Assembly do not poke their political noses into cancer research or astrophysics.
Debbie Fox, Bexley
A puppet on a string
Re “Outrageous scheme exposed”, Dec. 15: I’ll add one more thing to Robert Ruth’s letter to the editor regarding Mayor Andrew Ginther and Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin.
Due to term limits, this was Ginther’s last time to run for office as mayor, and the Democratic Party is preparing Hardin for that position. In other words, to keep Columbus on the decline and households on the hook, Ginther is teaching his replacement all the arrangements he has learned, and made, since taking office in 2016.
When Ginther leaves, Shannon will continue to be on puppet strings.
Carmen Sauer, Columbus
Where is Andre Hill’s justice?
On the morning of Dec. 22, 2020, I awoke to yellow “caution” police tape around my house. Poking my head out the door, I saw that my neighbors’ houses were also surrounded by caution tape.
Police cars lined the street. When I walked down it, I learned that around 1 a.m., a few houses down the street, a member of the Columbus Police Division had shot and killed a man — as he stood inside a garage holding a cellphone in his hand. He had no weapon and was visiting the homeowner.
More:What we know about the fatal shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man, by Columbus police
The man’s name was Andre Hill. His killer was officer Adam Coy.
Three years on, Coy still has not been brought to trial and is free on bond.
More:Murder trial for ex-Columbus police officer Adam Coy postponed over cancer treatments
In the interim, the home was sold, and its owner has passed away. The trial originally scheduled for spring 2023 was delayed by Coy’s treatment for lymphoma.
Despite a status hearing in July, a date for the trial has not been set to my knowledge; certainly, a trial has not occurred.
The shooting of unarmed Andre Hill is a sad addition to the long list of Black men and women shot by the CPD, and the slowness in convening his trial is insult added to grievous injury. Justice deferred is justice denied.
Julia Watson, Columbus
