Readers Write (Oct. 27): Stereotypes, Benghazi, Paul Ryan, soccer stadium, St. Paul school discipline, Halloween display, student debt

I am writing in response to "A life still full of glee" (Oct. 23), about actress Jane Lynch. The article stated that Lynch, in her autobiography, chronicles her "openly gay lifestyle." I found that to be a very offensive statement. What exactly is a gay lifestyle? How is it different from a heterosexual lifestyle? Why is an "openly gay lifestyle" more noteworthy than a "heterosexual lifestyle?" There are active lifestyles, solitary lifestyles, party lifestyles — but gay lifestyles? It is a presumptuous stereotype on several counts. One, it suggests that "gay" is a choice, which research says it definitely is not. Secondly, the statement is followed by a reference to Lynch's "battle with alcoholism." Does the author believe that type of battle is indicative of that "lifestyle?" I think not, and working as an addictions counselor, I have some knowledge base. The "gay" people I know, and there are many, enjoy the same "lifestyle" that I as a heterosexual woman do. We work, shop, eat out, pay bills, walk our dogs, meet friends for coffee and try to keep a balance in our lives. The Star Tribune needs to think more carefully about categorizing people and their lifestyles.

The liberal media perpetuates the narrative that nothing new came from Hillary Clinton's testimony at the Benghazi panel last week ("Little learned from 11-hour inquisition," editorial, Oct. 24). Well, here is one new thing that did: On the night the event happened, Clinton e-mailed her daughter saying it was an Al-Qaida-like group. Later, she told everyone else it was caused by a video. So, Clinton's family deserves to know the truth, but the families of the deceased and the American people do not? Ouch.

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If I had a loved one who was killed in Benghazi, I don't think I would care that much about the number of e-mails that our secretary of state sent to her personal friend in the years before it happened. I wouldn't even care if she spent the night alone. I would probably understand the confusion that happened that night where things were said that were not entirely true under the light of evidence that followed in the ensuring days.

What I would care a lot about is what we knew or should have known about who killed the four Americans. What motivated them? Who gave them weapons? And why did they come to want to kill our ambassador? I have never seen a murder investigation where such little energy was invested to learn about the killers. That is the biggest embarrassment of this fourth year of investigation.

The writer of an Oct. 23 letter, and others giving U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan a hard time, should understand a few things. The first is that, historically, being speaker of the House has been the summit for most who've had the role. There are very few former speakers who are commonly known and have ascended higher politically. The second is that Ryan has the potential to be a presidential candidate somewhere down the road. With as bright of a future as he has, he wouldn't want to jeopardize it by having to add to his résumé "forced out of speaker of the House position." Don't blame him for thinking about the career he has ahead of him.

The Star Tribune articles about the supposed triumph of St. Paul over Minneapolis in giving tax-free land and development rights to the owners of the new professional soccer franchise have not mentioned the deep and bitter resentment held by so many Minneapolis residents. The Vikings stadium, whatever they want to call it, was crammed down our throats. With the soccer stadium, then, Mayor Betsy Hodges knows she didn't lose many votes opposing yet another giveaway to real-estate developers wearing the cloak of professional sports.

Congratulations, St. Paul. You got by much more cheaply than we did.

Discipline in the St. Paul Public Schools is being conflated with racism. A moment's thought tells us the two are not the same, yet their misidentification is now generating violence: Witness recent fights at Como Park High, a loaded weapon in a locker at Harding and a growing perception that the St. Paul district is losing control. The implicit label that white teachers and principals are racists who need re-education is clear to them, and they now struggle with the desire to serve their students effectively and prove they are not racist by relaxing discipline standards. But treating children of color according to a separate standard encourages the children's anger at being neglected. It is anger at this neglect that fuels violence, not white racism. Discipline is not racism; it is attention paid to students to socialize them toward obedience to law. Every child, regardless of ethnic orientation or racial identity, deserves that.

The writer is a retired St. Paul Public Schools teacher and an active substitute teacher in the district.

I found "Halloween display's hanging 'bodies' too real for some in St. Louis Park" (Oct. 24) to be a sad commentary indeed on the mind-sets of the complaining parents. Rather than trying to explain to their children that Halloween is celebrated with ghosts, witches, goblins, ghouls and vampires and that the display cited is just someone's idea of "scary," they complain to the authorities. Come on, parents, take responsibility and help your kids understand instead of trying to suppress what you don't agree with.

Bill Boegeman ("Student loans: Interest rates keep borrowers in the hole") claims that the amount he paid for his college education was "worth every penny" yet proceeds to claim that his student loans and the associated repayment schedule are a "rip-off" and that the lenders who offer them are "white-collar crooks who rig the game in their favor." This sounds a lot like someone who wants to have his cake and eat it, too: He's willing to incur $83,000 in cost and accrued interest to obtain his education, but he doesn't think it's right that he should have to pay it back on the terms to which he agreed because he is frustrated with the unpleasant reality of the early years of a loan amortization schedule.