Letter: Put gender-neutral restrooms in New York’s schools

With New York State recently seeing the historic enactment of GENDA, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act [“Albany is ready to roll,” News, Jan. 11], it is essential for us to take this successful stride and carry it into our schools.

School districts should provide gender-neutral restrooms. The law bars “discrimination based on gender identity or expression.” The law says nothing specific about gender-neutral restrooms. However, one can say they are encouraged, albeit implied, by this bill. These can include single-person bathrooms.

Documents such as student handbooks should be updated to mention such facilities, and signs should indicate they are open to all.

Schools are supposed to be places where every child can learn in an inclusive environment. Our educational system can succeed only if students are taught and encouraged to be true to themselves in an environment where they can feel welcomed.

Mitchell Schwartz, Roslyn

Editor’s note: The writer is a junior at Roslyn High School.

Thoughts on Zeldin-Omar fight

The Feb. 4 letter “Minn. representative was elected to serve” — addressing Rep. Lee Zeldin’s dispute with Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — concluded, “Perhaps he would be better off serving in the Knesset rather than Congress.” Newsday should not have printed that.

The dual-loyalty insult is a widely used anti-Semitic slur that Jews have suffered for centuries. Denouncing the anti-Semitic charge of Jewish disloyalty does not mean that one has to close one’s eyes to the fact that many American Jews have emotional attachments to Israel. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that.

The observation that Israel is important to many American Jews becomes anti-Semitic when it is used to impugn Jewish loyalty or trustworthiness. A connection with Israel can mean various things: religious, ideological, prosaic. Connections between American Jews and Israel are the same types of connections different ethnic groups in the United States have with their ancestral countries and cultures.

Suggesting that American Jews should not be trusted citizens and patriots perpetuates the anti-Semitism. People of good will must intervene when the charge of disloyalty is leveled.

Bernard A. Bilawsky, North Massapequa

Like Rep. Lee Zeldin, I’m concerned about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s revelation that she supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Such a stance is at best misguided, and at worst anti-Semitic. However, before Zeldin’s objections to Omar’s position on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee can be taken seriously, he has to explain his association with white nationalist Steve Bannon, who is on the record as having made virulently anti-Semitic remarks. Zeldin, one of two Jewish Republicans in the House, chose to invite Bannon to headline a fundraiser for him in 2017. Like so many Jewish Long Islanders, I remain appalled.

Ellen Meister, Jericho

Many questions still about medical billing

I read the “Decoding your hospital bill” front-page news story on Jan. 27, but still haveseveral questions: Who actually pays the high list prices? Is it people who don’t have insurance?

Why is the difference between what medical providers charge and what they will accept from insurers so large? Why do medical charges remain high when it’s clear that providers will routinely accept significantly smaller amounts, and how do they write off the difference? Are those differences used to support the idea that providers lose money?

I occasionally call radio talk shows when they discuss medical costs, but no one seems to know the answers to these questions.

Kenneth Casanova, Ridge

Curran leadership on ICE is lacking

A letter praised Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s waffling on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the county as something that took “courage” [“Curran right to avoid trouble at hospital,” Feb. 1]. Such an opinion couldn’t be further from the truth.

Everyone agrees with the author’s comment that “leadership requires the ability to listen, absorb information and respond,” but Curran’s response does not fit that definition. Her original statement that the ICE office should be moved from the county jail shocked and surprised citizens and law enforcement professionals. Further, in an interview with News 12, she was unable to answer a basic question: “Has [a deportation] happened at the jail because of ICE being there?”

A leader should ask experts (in this case, law enforcement professionals) questions such as, “Is this a good idea?”

The fact that Curran was caught off guard proves she didn’t do so. If she had asked many people in the community, they would have advised against her plan. A good leader keeps the desires of constituents at the forefront of policy. No amount of revisionism can change the bad leadership behind Curran’s ICE failure.

Matthew Pinna, Farmingdale