Letters to the Editor
Black veterans TO THE EDITOR:
At the risk of appearing paranoid, I’m concerned there are few stories that I’ve seen in the Gazette about this area’s Black veterans. Share with me please, the process the Gazette uses to determine veteran related stories to be published.
Are you aware of American Legion Post 248 in Hooks, Texas, BG Johnnie Forte, Jr.., Buffalo Soldiers, which is a predominately black post? Have you “touched base” with the officers and other veterans in this post for potential stories?
Thanks for your service to this area. John W. Williams Texarkana, Texas M-130 TO THE EDITOR:
I hear a lot of insults and mudslinging regarding the so-called “bathroom bills” and the current move to ensure people who are transgendered, or non-binary heterosexual are singled out and “put in their proper place.” The word bigotry is thrown out quite a bit.
Did you know discrimination occurs from both the heterosexual and LGBT community? There are groups of lesbian feminists who don’t recognize women who were not born a natural female. Basically transgender people who have undergone the male to female transformation are rejected from this particular community. Bigotry can come in many forms. MASC4MASC. No fats, no fems. We are all guilty. We should all take responsibility.
I find it strange that since the SCOTUS ruling on Gay Marriage, the people who felt the government was overstepping its boundaries are the same people who call for regulation over who goes in what bathroom.
Transgender people comprise less than .03% of the population. Is that small enough a minority to dismiss? Where do you suggest they go pee? Would YOU put up with that same rule if it applied to you? It’s not about bathrooms; it’s about not being fired if people discover you are LGBT. People forget that the
LGBT community has had to literally fight for every right they have ever received. LGBTs face many hardships in the workplace; not being hired, being harassed by coworkers on the job, being passed over for raises and promotions, and other covert ways of discrimination. LGBT people have been beaten, raped, and killed on the job. And believe it or not, being in the closet is just as hard. What would you do if someone you loved was treated this way? It isn’t fair.
This is all the M130 is trying to do. Make things fair. Repealing it won’t make anyone safer in the bathroom. It is not “enabling someone’s lifestyle” because their lifestyle is not any of your business. M-130 just lets everyone play by the same rules. And isn’t that what America is about? A. Phillips Nash, Texas TO THE EDITOR:
Our Arkansas side friends probably were not paying attention to the budget fiasco in Bowie County that led to a 15 percent employees pay cut and 36 percent tax hike in 2014. We lost a few good sheriff’s deputies who went elsewhere for higher salaries, and taxpayers made up the revenue decline because fewer inmates were housed from other counties.
Mis-manager in chief was then County Judge Sterling Lacy. Thank goodness Lacy lost the election and his replacement turned things around in a year. Lack of attention is the only reason I can think of that Arkansas folks would listen to someone who is obviously bad at economic development when he led petition efforts to repeal an anti-discrimination ordinance for Texarkana, Ark.. Why did a Texan start that petition, anyway? Why is the Duggar family lawyer involved? Why do people not understand their city board passed that ordinance to assure companies considering new business locations that the city supports equal treatment for all their employees by the city and its contractors? The ordinance does not tell stores, churches or schools anything about bathrooms. Nothing that was illegal before is legal now. Vote against repeal of M130. Jo Ann M. Duman Texarkana, Texas