Letters to the Editor | Nov. 16, 2022

I’m new to my school district. Coming from a private, single-sex school where everyone is expected to conform to a certain gender role, having the freedom to express my identity is invaluable. While the first few days felt akin to walking through a minefield, full of introductions to teachers and corrections so they would use my name, I’m now able to get through the school day without a single incident of deadnaming or misgendering. It’s an incredible source of joy I am lucky enough to have. It’s terrifying to know this is being stripped away from other students. On behalf of the LGBTQ teenagers who have been forced to stay in the closet or outed against their will, I’m asking the Central Bucks School District to extend to its students the respect and acceptance they deserve. No one should have to fear expressing who they are, especially not from their peers or teachers. Living in a state of constant fear of being rejected at best and harassed at worst is not living — it’s surviving. High schools are supposed to help their students thrive into their adulthood. Fostering an environment in which LGBTQ teenagers are made to feel as if they don’t belong is the exact opposite. Central Bucks can do better.

N. Mistry, Gladwyne

The Spotlight PA article about medical marijuana doesn’t accurately represent the approval process, which is, essentially, a state-sanctioned, bureaucratic system that has become a legal money-grab for certain medical facilities. The references in the article to doctors and their training might lead someone to believe that you could use your primary care physician, the person who likely would already have your complete medical history. In fact, you must choose from a state-approved list of “pain management” doctors who charge $200 for a new patient appointment (and $150 annually each subsequent year if you don’t change doctors). The new patient and returning patient appointments are the same: a five-minute discussion about your pain and then your approval gets put into the system. Now you can pay the state $50 a year for your card.

Steve McLean, Downingtown

The Inquirer summed up the thinking of some Pennsylvania Republican operatives who questioned the role of former President Donald Trump in the midterm vote. The remarks of Matthew Brouillette, head of the conservative group Commonwealth Partners, were the most telling. He said it was time for Trump to retire from politics after having had “his moment in the sun.” And what a “moment” that was. Trump surrounded himself with incompetent managers, clueless and corrupt lawyers, and cloudcuckoo political figures like Steve Bannon and Roger Stone. He lied his way through a crippling pandemic, ignored border issues, endangered our troops abroad, enriched himself, pardoned the corrupt, and orchestrated an insurrection attempt to stay in power. His role was not a prospectus for endorsement success but a recipe for disaster. The state GOP opted to support what Trump saw as electability — millionaire TV stars — instead of credibility. Republicans have only themselves to blame.

Michael J. Cummings, Chestnut Hill

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