LGTBQ + discrimination, municipalizing LIPA, Southern State Parkway speeders, and Belmont Park horse racing

Group in disguise for ‘parental rights’

The “parental rights” movement is nothing more than a right-wing euphemism used in part to disguise LGBTQ+ discrimination, just as “voter integrity” is really a thinly veiled effort aimed at disenfranchising minorities [“Trans student seeking way amid conflict,” News, April 16].

Screams of “parental rights” are pushed by so-called grassroots organizations that many believe get their money and talking points from wealthy Republican donors to fund proxy culture wars.

Barbara Abboud, chairwoman of the Nassau County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said, “We need to make sure parents understand what’s happening in these schools.” What exactly is “happening?” Mysteriously, she doesn’t say, leaving to our imagination the nefarious machinations that schools are supposedly engaged in.

All students, including LGBTQ+, deserve to feel safe at school, especially if home may not be a comfortable place.

The right has made a habit over the past few years of referring to liberals as “snowflakes.” I find it ironic that this same group of people seems to be so afraid of some pronouns.

— Jason D’Angelo, East Northport

Moms for Liberty is properly construed by many as a far-right hate group. They have coordinated harassment of teachers, school officials and boards of education for daring to offer curriculum and literature inclusive to LGBTQ+ people and people of color.

They have demanded book bans and seem to be attempting to make schools maximally hostile to any student who isn’t cisgender, white and heterosexual.

I am deeply disappointed to see Barbara Abboud quoted uncritically alongside other community leaders on an issue as important as inclusivity for transgender students in Long Island schools.  

— Vincent Vertuccio, Sayville

Say yes to LIPA being municipalized

I believe the Long Island Power Authority should be municipalized [“No to government ‘efficiency’ for LIPA,” Opinion, April 17].

Governments keep costs down and operate efficiently, just like private companies. The Nassau County comptroller’s office has internal auditors to check on the efficient operations of government.

Although private owners would try to keep costs down, they would do it for the benefit of the owners and/or stockholders. They would not be interested in keeping ratepayers’ costs down. The money saved with efficiencies would go to the managers, etc.

The Soviet Union and China’s governments controlled facilities like hospitals and nursing homes. It did not work because the communist party was not accountable to the public. We have a democracy that demands that such facilities be run efficiently.

— Robert M. Martin, Mineola

The writer retired as an accountant in the Nassau County comptroller’s office.

Southern State was built for leisure drives

When I was a boy in the 1960s, the speed limit on the Southern State Parkway was 45 miles per hour [“Southern State safety solutions,” Letters, April 14].

Now that it’s 55 mph, people think they can go 70. But this parkway, whose first section opened in 1927, was not designed for high speeds like on the interstate highways. It was designed for leisurely drives to beaches and parks for cars built in the 1920s and 1930s.

The cars in the 1960s could go just as fast or faster than today’s cars, but we didn’t have the high accident statistics that we have today.

Given the curves we see on the Southern State and the tight entrances and exits it has, the speed limit on “Blood Alley” should be no more than 50 mph, and the speed limit signs should say “strictly enforced.”

— Dan Okrent, Hempstead

Protect horses, don’t support racing them

It was both enlightening and disturbing to learn from a reader about the apparent lack of concern toward eliminating the catastrophic injury problem with racehorses at Belmont Park [“Change Belmont before state loan,” Letters, April 10].

Mitigation efforts directed to reducing catastrophic injury of the horses appear to have fallen short in setting up safety patrols, which sound more like a cover for continuing to conduct business as usual.

I do not condone racing animals for sport. People need to find more humane outlets for achieving entertainment thrills and disabuse themselves of the notion that horse racing is a humane sport, which it is not. The sport is both archaic and out of touch with modern-day humanitarian standards and should not be supported by the State Legislature or residents.

I realize that the need to find sources of revenue while pandering to the instincts of the betting public will win the day at the expense of our four-legged friends. I recommend transforming Belmont into an auto racing track.

— Michael Scaturro, Garden City