Thoughts on teen health and gays in historyI felt compelled to respond to Barry Wendell’s Jan. 5 letter, “Gitlin seems to want to save the state from public health,” in which he commented on my Jan. 3 Coastal Voices piece, “Too late to save Golden State?” Here are my positions: I do believe teenagers should not be deprived from cancer skin care or veneral disease protection. The child’s parents should be advised. I do believe any disease should not be allowed to go untreated if the means of curing the ailment is available. I do strongly believe parents should be in the loop and notified if their 12-year-old daughter is about to undergo a life-changing surgery such as an abortion. I also believe one’s sexual orientation, heterosexual or homosexual should not be part of any social science curriculum. It matters not to me that Thomas Edison was or was not a heterosexual. I simply want to know that he invented the light bulb. Roger Gitlin Crescent City |