Letters to the editor
Gender policy counterintuitive
The new policy announced recently forcing children to conform to their gender documented at birth while attending Catholic school in Worcester is counterintuitive to what we know to be the best practice for students who are seeking gender expression aligned with their true identity.
Our job as adults is to guide our kids to live their authentic selves in whatever gender expression that means to them, honoring pronouns, and supporting the child’s journey. This is a beautiful gift we can and should give our youth.
As an alumna of Notre Dame Academy, Worcester, the sisters taught us we were each a child of God, beloved, each unique with gifts to offer living our Christian faith through love in action. It would appear the Worcester Diocese seeks to unravel that beautiful teaching, just when this complicated world is in need of our very best efforts as Christians.
Worcester kids deserve better Christian messaging.
Amy Coe, Notre Dame Academy, Class of 1990, Boston
Wanted: A place to skate
Woo Skates, which started with two strangers, has fostered a remarkable community. The group’s warm and inviting, with the tagline “all wheels, all ages, all levels.” There are even extra skates available! However, we’ve struggled finding somewhere to skate.
For those who aren’t aware, the group meets weekly on the Holmes Field tennis courts, but we’ve recently been asked to refrain from skating there to reserve the space for tennis players.
Despite 1,200 followers’ worth of proven community interest, Worcester lacks a dedicated community space to accommodate 20 to 30 skaters.
Furthermore, public parks go so far as to actively ban roller skating with signage that feels unnecessarily exclusionary and doesn’t consider skaters’ lack of alternatives. Wheels and stopping do not damage surfaces and to skate safely each week, the group sweeps the court of debris.
Indoor skating presents its own obstacles. Rinks within driving distance have become crowded since a fraction are left to meet the growing demand. Roller skating’s popularity soared during the pandemic, but its revival came too late for many rinks, including Worcester’s former Skylite.
Safe outdoor skating locations are hard to come by. Surfaces must be smooth and flat. Pavement is fatiguing (the vibrations), when not treacherous (loose rocks or cracks). Concrete’s best, but of existing spaces, lit tennis courts offer the best alternative.
We ask permission to respectfully share one of Worcester’s 19 public tennis courts for three hours a week.
Natalie Bonetti, West Boylston
Letdown over Latin Festival parking
Recent publicity on the Latin Festival promised "a lot of excitement." As folks who in younger years traveled extensively in Puerto Rico, Columbia, Chile, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, we were looking forward to attending the festival and enjoying some music, dancing and eating.
We were deeply saddened to learn all streets to the Common were blocked off and not a policeman in sight could direct us to handicapped parking. An empty police car was blocking Front Street and we drove around, looking for a policeman.
Although it promised the event is successful because the mainstream cultural community supports it, we regretfully learned that older folks are not considered part of the community, even though we continue to pay high property taxes, vote and otherwise participate.
Does anyone care?
Virginia Johnson, Worcester
Sovereignty of We the People
Ray Mariano is right to blame "We the People" for the unethical gift-taking by Supreme Court justices (Clarence Thomas a disgrace to Supreme Court, 8/18). We have been turning a blind eye to the corrupting influence of big money in our political system ever since the court's Buckley v. Valeo decision confused political spending with free speech in 1976. We have continued to allow political corruption to worsen with decisions such as Citizens United v. FEC (2010), McCutcheon v. FEC (2014), and Cruz v. FEC (2022).
Flawed Supreme Court decisions can only be overturned with constitutional amendments. Our predecessors did it 27 times, ending slavery, allowing women to vote, and banning poll taxes, among other pro-democracy amendments. Now it’s our turn. Will we muster the political will to pass an amendment to reassert the constitutional sovereignty of We the People, or will we continue to abide the tyranny of large corporations and billionaires who buy political influence with their massive campaign contributions?
When our political leaders have to answer to their constituents rather than their biggest campaign contributors, they will be in a position to require ethical behavior of Supreme Court justices too.
Paul Lauenstein, Sharon
More than MOR-EV needed
It's amazing to see Massachusetts has made strides in its MOR-EV program to reduce their carbon footprint to net zero by 2050. However, without taking further ambitious action, it may not be enough. The article neglects to mention the potential drawbacks of electric vehicles, which require lithium and rare earths for the production of their batteries - a process that is highly pollutant. A large part of the process of producing the battery for electric vehicles is incredibly pollutant and will not help reduce our emissions in the long run if we cannot develop a method to extract these materials without serious environmental detriment. If Massachusetts wishes to make a real difference in reducing emissions, it must also invest more in solar and wind energy, use public transport more often, and ultimately electrify most vehicles. The MOR-EV program is a helpful start, but more effort is needed if the state wishes to reach its climate goals.
Laurie Woodward Garcia, Westborough
Halt gas system expansion
I am consistently dismayed by the news surrounding the commonwealth’s pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This target, in reality, should be set much earlier if we aim to limit global warming to nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius). Henry Schwan’s article on a natural gas line in Douglas accentuates this concern. Eversource’s public talking points of looking for paths to “decarbonization” are always undermined by words about “clean natural gas.” Even the juxtaposition of the solar farm directly abutting the warehouse falsely implies that the giant warehouse will be climate-friendly. Why is the commonwealth allowing these backroom dealings and greenwashing shenanigans to continue, with the extension of underground natural gas pipelines? Our elected officials must demand that utilities prioritize renewables, rather than justifying fossil fuel use post facto. Governor Healey should heed the calls from Mass Power Forward and the great majority of her constituents and halt all gas system expansion immediately.
George Gaines, Boxford
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Letters to the editor
