Readers write for Oct. 5, 2010

I just read the Oct. 3 article "Schools struggle with gay policies," and I have to say I'm angry. I was bullied throughout middle school and high school in Ashland, Wis. The last beating I suffered put me in the hospital for five days and required me to have surgery. I fought back against my school for failing to protect me from antigay bullying and won a federal lawsuit that established that all kids, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender kids, have a right to be safe while attending schools. I thought, naively, that my case would stop all harassment and that GLBT kids would finally be safe in schools. As your article pointed out, this has not happened.

Groups like the Minnesota Family Council that continue to promote hatred and bigotry are directly responsible for the bullying and the rise in suicides that are plaguing GLBT kids. These kids need a safe and supportive place where they can learn. Would it be acceptable for the Anoka-Hennepin school district to have a neutrality policy around the Jewish "lifestyle" or the African-American "lifestyle"? I am tired of having to justify why we should be teaching kids to respect GLBT youth in our schools. We are all human beings, and we are all worthy of respect. We as a society can no longer sit by and let hate groups like the Minnesota Family Council dictate to schools who is acceptable and who is not. All kids should be safe in school. Period.

JAMIE NABOZNY, BLOOMINGTON

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Some of the quotes from officials would be laughable if they were not so pathetic. To continue to refer to homosexuality as a "lifestyle" (implying choice) and as a "political issue" avoids any efforts toward making a change of attitudes. More than 50 years ago, while in graduate school at the University of Toronto, I was taught that sexuality is a "continuum" with the extremes of masculinity and femininity at either end and with most of us at some point between the two. It seems to me that this is as true today as it was then. Does anyone really believe that gays "choose" a lifestyle that results in personal rejection, harassment and denial of benefits?

Ironically, the wisest quote in the Oct. 3 article came from the 17-year-old senior from Avalon School who said, "It's not a political issue ... it's a human issue." He is wise beyond his years, and school officials would do well to heed these words.

MILLER FRIESEN, EAGAN

Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, said: "I don't think parents want their kids indoctrinated in homosexuality."

Homosexuality is not a belief or ideology that can be taught. When my kids encounter students who have the trait of homosexuality, here is what I want them indoctrinated in: tolerance, kindness, acceptance, respect. Every student should feel safe and accepted at school, regardless of their skin color, IQ, athletic abilities, disabilities or sexual orientation. It is heartbreaking that students feel so humiliated and unloved by their school community that suicide feels like a good option. It is shameful that any school has a policy that allows that to continue.

MARY BETH SCHLEIF, Eagan

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Unemployment is hovering around 10 percent. We are losing our war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Mideast peace talks have broken down. Health care reform has gotten nowhere. Immigrants (many of them illegal) from Asia, Africa and Latin America continue to burden our resources by foolishly having five, seven, 10 or more children. Our borders are broken with illegals, many of them drug dealers and criminals, freely coming across. Our whole economy is in a downward tailspin, but the Star Tribune continues to give its readers a daily report on protecting the rights of homosexuals and even advocating for their lifestyle.

TOM R. KOVACH, NEVIS, MINN.

Lee Munnich's claim that transit riders and carpoolers benefit from Minnesota's MnPass lanes conflates "Lexus lanes" with standard high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes ("Revised road plan is a realistic approach," editorial, Oct. 2).

HOV lanes actually make more efficient use of the road by moving more people in fewer vehicles. The result is that most uncongested HOV lanes actually serve more trips than the adjacent lanes that allow single-occupancy vehicles. This has huge public benefits, in addition to making the trips quicker for those who choose these options. These include less air pollution, fewer impervious parking lots and less traffic on local streets.

By contrast, MnPass lanes allow people who can afford it to get the benefits of the HOV lane while continuing to drive alone in their personal vehicle instead of taking transit or carpooling. There is no public benefit. To the contrary, allowing people to buy their way into the HOV lane can only slow the trips for transit riders and carpoolers. It actually encourages people who can afford it to choose to continue to drive alone, a choice that increases congestion on the adjacent highway, in addition to adding to air pollution, parking demands and traffic on local streets.

HOV lanes have a huge public benefit. If they look empty sometimes, it is because users are making much more efficient use of a public resource. By contrast, Lexus lanes essentially spend tax dollars to provide an exclusive service for people who can afford it. MnPass may be good politics, but it is bad transportation policy.

The Star Tribune's Oct. 2 paper had an obituary for Steven J. Cannell, producer of the TV series "The Rockford Files."

There's one word in the obit that cannot go unchallenged: "hapless." Jim Rockford wasn't hapless, but rather was the most cunning and resourceful TV detective ever, not to mention the best car driver.

I think hapless is an appropriate description of the AP writer.

ROB GODFREY, ST. Louis Park