Aspire to LGBTQ rights nationwide

Regarding “Rainbow saturation” ( Page One, June 22): Although the seemingly ubiquitous rainbow symbol for gay pride is common in large metropolitan cities like San Francisco and New York this time of year, please remember that there are many parts of this country where there is still open hostility toward the LGBTQ community. In fact, people can still be denied housing and accommodations or be fired from jobs simply because of their sexual orientation.

Our country even has a vice president who, as governor of Indiana, advocated religious freedom legislation that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian customers based upon an owner’s faith.

And now, many businesses will use the recent Supreme Court Masterpiece Bakeshop ruling to further justify such discriminatory behavior. So let’s celebrate gay pride in 2018 with parades and rainbow flags, while remembering that equal rights for all Americans is still an aspiration, not a reality.

Charles Carrington, San Francisco

‘ Most despised man’

Regarding “An inside look at the Trump- Kim summit” ( June 22): Does columnist Andrew Malcolm seriously believe that President Trump is “the world’s most powerful man”? The “leader of the free world” has attacked journalists in our country, separated migrant children from their parents at our border with Mexico, imposed tariffs that will likely trigger a global trade war, broken treaties with other nations and praised dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The title Malcolm should be using to describe Trump is “the world’s most despised man.”

Jean Louis Cook, San Francisco

Loss of prestige

Despite a statement from her spokeswoman that “It’s just a jacket,” many citizens are angered or puzzled by first lady Melania Trump’s decision to wear a jacket bearing the message “I really don’t care, do u?” on her way to visiting children in a Texas migrant detention center. Her husband has opined that the message concerns Melania Trump’s disdain for the “fake news” media’s coverage of her. Others believe it shows her indifference to the trauma caused by the separation of these children from their asylum- seeking parents. Regardless of its meaning, her decision to wear a graffiti- style jacket bearing a misspelled message is yet another blow to the prestige that was once bestowed upon the occupants of the White House.

Jennifer Erickson- James, San Francisco

Time to decide

Regarding “Daylight- time decision may wind up in voters’ hands” ( June 22): I was pleased to read about the bill that is going to Gov. Jerry Brown to end changing the time back and forth every spring and fall. The problem with yearround daylight savings time, however, is that in the warming climate we now live in, the best solution is to have standard time with shorter cooler evenings. Plan B to keep standard time like Hawaii and Arizona does not require congressional approval ( something that would probably never happen, given our current Congress) and, I think, the people who love long evenings wouldn’t be too disappointed with standard- time evenings, still light at 8 p. m. and cooler by bedtime.

Deborah Johnston, Palo Alto

Fashion ideas

I have no fashion sense, but wondering what an enterprising person might do with the free idea of selling a coat ( for men and women) that says, “Yes, I do care!” on the back. I recommend white letters and green coat.

Jack Taylor, Pacifica

‘ Deporter in chief’

Will someone, preferably a Republican with a spine, please point out to our “deporter in chief” that the billions he wants for a “big beautiful wall” might be better spent on helping El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras fight the gangs that terrorize their citizens into leaving, and working with Mexico — instead of demonizing its citizens — to find ways to accommodate these Central Americans before they get to our border?

If this had been done much earlier, we wouldn’t need increasing numbers of big ugly cages. The media can help out here. Ask the asylum seekers why they didn’t stop in Mexico, and ask Mexican leaders for ideas on both suggestions.

Kristin Anundsen, San Francisco

First lady’s jacket

There are only two possible explanations for the first lady’s “I really don’t care, do u?” jacket. Either the poor thing is illiterate and can’t read or write English, or she is doing her best to hasten the day when public outrage will boil over and sweep her husband out of office, and her to freedom.

Brenda Kahn, Berkeley

‘ Let them eat cake’

Melania Trump’s appalling choice to wear a jacket emblazoned with “I really don’t care, do u?” on the way to visit immigrant children in Texas represents her “Let them eat cake” moment. “Let them eat cake” moments have not historically turned out well for those involved.

Thomas Matson, San Francisco

Reunite with tech

The government has no strategy on how to reunite children with their parents, and many children are already being relocated all over the country. Companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google have objected to this policy of separating children from their parents.

With their power to connect people, they can help to make possible the reunification of families. The longer parents are in detention, or if they already have been deported, the less likely that they will ever be reunited with their children.

Patricia Caldera, San Francisco