Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Bills would offer equal protection to gays

I write in support of two bills -- SB 2430/HD 1 (social justice in housing) and SB 3176/SD 2/HD 1 (reciprocal beneficiaries) -- because social justice is at stake.

As a parent, I have found it hard to remain silent in the past when the state was discussing equal marriage rights. I bowed to the wishes of some members of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community who only wanted the Constitution defended. I can remain silent no longer.

The two bills before the Legislature would give at least a measure of safety to our children and an equal share of the benefits of being taxpaying citizens. To withhold safety and benefits to taxpaying citizens is more than un-American; it is criminal.

These are measures that offer a reasonable and humane approach to addressing discrimination and thus should be adopted.

The code of ethics to which I am bound by the National Association of Social Workers directs me to speak out whenever discrimination is at stake. I hope legislators' own personal code of ethics directs them to do the same.

Carolyn Martinez Golojuch
President PFLAG Oahu
(Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
Makakilo

Death penalty would free up prison space

The laws here are crazy. People can go around killing, but we cannot put them to death.

Instead, we have to put these murderers behind bars for life, and then taxpayers have the burden of incarcerating them while authorities bitterly complain that the prisons are overcrowded.

Does this make sense to you? Texas, with its death penalty, has the right idea.

J. Leonard

Legislators paralyzed by power of unions

Who said socialism is dead? We have the iron rice bowl right here in Hawaii. The Legislature is so indebted to the union leadership, nothing that remotely smacks of reform gets a fair hearing.

The legislators throw themselves a party, before and after the session, to pat themselves on the back and give the impression that they are in charge, when, in fact, we all know the truth.

The head of the Hawaii Government Employees Association proposes raising the excise tax to 5.35 percent. Does he know businesses are going under and that people are leaving this state for greener pastures because of the stifling economy?

Why do we go through the motions, expense and folly of elections when government union leaders already run the state and seemingly make decisions for the Legislature? Binding arbitration serves only the unions. The taxpayers suffer the consequences and get stuck with the bill.

I'd rather take my chances with government workers going on strike than handing them a 15 percent pay raise without a fight.

If binding arbitration is going to result in automatic pay raises each time a contract comes up for renewal, why should union members have to pay dues to support their leadership?

Jim Fromm

Quotables "What does it take? Does a guy need to die before any changes are made?" Ben Toyama SPOKESMAN FOR THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL ENGINEERS IN HAWAII Alleging that a recent series of industrial accidents at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard involving the Navy's nuclear submarine fleet are related, and that the safety of workers is being jeopardized "It was dead yesterday. People hear the road is closed and they think Haleiwa is closed." Jamie Gasior EMPLOYEE AT THE MATAHARI STORE IN THE HALEIWA BUSINESS COMMUNITY Lamenting the continuing dearth of customers in the North Shore town after a March 6 rockfall closed Kamehameha Highway and led to the construction of a new Waimea Bay road, largely financed by federal funds

Boys, girls basketball seasons are appropriate

This is in response to two April 17 letters to the editor on the issue of boys and girls high school basketball seasons.

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association considered some time ago, but declined to pursue, Gordon Chang's suggestion to flip-flop the current high school basketball seasons so the girls could play in the winter and the boys in the spring.

This was because girls basketball and soccer (in the winter), as well as boys basketball and baseball (spring), would then be held in the same season, precluding many of our female and male student-athletes from competing in both sports as they now do.

In addition, more than 85 percent of our girl basketball players and coaches opposed any switch from the current spring season.

With respect to Diane Wong's questioning of the accuracy of the HHSAA's girls basketball season survey, we welcome her to conduct a survey of her own. Curiously, despite arguing for several years that the girls season must be switched with the boys, Wong and other members of the minority opposition have yet to provide us with any survey or other relevant facts supporting their position.

Although the opportunity to obtain a college scholarship is certainly a pleasant byproduct of high school athletics, it should not be the reason to change a sport's season, especially when only a fraction of our student-athletes have a realistic chance of obtaining such an opportunity.

Indeed, the paramount purposes of high school athletics are participation and the teaching of values such as teamwork, discipline, perseverance and sportsmanship. These are goals that the HHSAA and its member schools strive to achieve every day.

Keith Amemiya
Executive Director
Hawaii High School Athletics Association

X-rated Web sites must be blocked in libraries

Everyone knows that pornography poisons children. It is sexual molestation of the mind. As adults, parents and people in authority, we are charged with the responsibility of protecting our children.

State Librarian Virginia Lowell says that if children are viewing porn in the libraries, they will be told, "Why don't we try to find something more appropriate?" The kids say as soon as the librarians turn their backs they click back onto the porn sites.

In Arizona, a 12-year-old boy molested a 4-year-old boy in a library bathroom after viewing porn despite being told not to. Is this what Hawaii is waiting for?

There are Internet products designed to block only porn and not interfere with legitimate Web sites. All we are asking for is protection for the kids while at the libraries. "Grown-ups" can still look at the putrid stuff, if they must, on the "adults-only" computer.

It's a shame that some readers have been criticizing the April 5 letter to the editor written by my 9-year-old daughter, Sharon. Her response to them: "Bleah!"

Steve Holck
Kailua

---

Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
Legislature Bills

---

Write a
Letter to the Editor

Want to write a letter to the editor? Let all Star-Bulletin readers know what you think. Please keep your letter to about 200 words. You can send it by e-mail to letters@starbulletin.com or you can fill in the online form for a faster response. Or print it and mail it to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or fax it to: 523-8509. Always be sure to include your daytime phone number.