Counseling is available
for sexually harassed vets

Thanks for the Star-Bulletin's March 29 article, "Conduct unbecoming," on women veterans who were sexually assaulted in the military and who are now receiving help at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The local vet centers and Honolulu Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center also provide services for those who have been sexually assaulted or harassed while in the military.

Confidential counseling and treatment, information on veterans benefits and medical care for eligible veterans are among the services available. The Honolulu Vet Center is one of 69 centers nationally that has a sexual trauma counselor on staff.

A women veterans coordinator is now on staff at the Honolulu VA to facilitate and help deliver medical and other services for women veterans. There is also a women's health clinic specifically to address the health needs of women. Finally, there are services available at the local VA clinics on the neighbor islands.

Women and men who were sexually traumatized in the military should call the Honolulu Vet Center at 566-1764 or the Honolulu VA women veterans coordinator at 566-1719.

Ann M. Fisher
Sexual Trauma Counselor
Honolulu Vet Center

Queen's Surf bathrooms
are unusable, unplanned

Regarding the new and "improved" bathroom facilities at Queen's Surf, I wholeheartedly agree with the March 26 letter written by Jack Law.

There was nothing wrong with the old bathrooms; at least they had character. It seems the new ones were designed with the janitors' convenience in mind rather than the public's.

When the new bathrooms were finally opened, the first thing that came to my mind was, "Whose payoff was this?" Not only is there less of everything that Law mentions, but the women's bathrooms are downright dark and scary since there are no light fixtures. The old bathrooms had an open beam design that allowed sunlight to illuminate them.

If what the "planners" had in mind was a design that would deter homeless people and gay men from cruising, that has backfired. It deters everyone from using the facilities.

Maybe they will be improved during the election year. Our tax dollars at work!

Ann Moriyasu
(Via the Internet)

Don't take easy way out
by embracing gambling

Legalizing gambling is not the solution to Hawaii's economic problems. Its promises are almost always greatly exaggerated.

The real costs of gambling - including the social and economic costs - far outweigh the short-term profits the state and the people of Hawaii would gain.

We need to resist the temptation of an easy solution to our problems when that solution can have devastatingly negative long-term consequences for us and our children.

Jeremy Kam
(Via the Internet)

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Same-sex archive

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