Letters: Readers discuss Sarah Huckabee Sanders, LGBT inclusiveness and Luke Heimlich
Stories for all
I have subscribed to The Star for more than 40 years and have always applauded its inclusive coverage of all of our nation’s citizens.
Because June is Gay Pride Month, the coverage of C.J. Janovy’s impressive book, “There’s No Place Like Home,” was important to the LGBT community and to all residents of Kansas and Missouri. (June 24, 1C, “Finding the rainbow in Kansas; In this deep-red state, journalist C.J. Janovy finds quiet progress for LGBT residents in ‘There’s No Place Like Home’”)
To know your history is to know yourself. A must-read. Kudos to The Star.
Lea Hopkins
Leawood
Still unequal
George Will gets it wrong again about the need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. (June 16, 11A, “The ERA began as a farce but has ended instead as a tragedy”)
Full equality under the law does not exist in this country for women. Women’s equal rights are not explicitly written into the Constitution.
For example:
▪ Pay inequity: In a 2001 class-action lawsuit on behalf of 1.5 million women, Betty Dukes sued Walmart for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by paying male workers more than female workers doing the same job and by promoting them faster and further than female workers. The case was settled not on the merits of the case, but on a technicality. The original case never went to trial.
▪ Pregnancy discrimination: Peggy Young, a UPS employee of 10 years, was put on unpaid leave when she became pregnant. She sued, lost and then appealed before finally settling with the company in 2015.
These cases likely would have have been decided in favor of women if the ERA was the 27th Amendment in the Constitution.
Alice Kitchen
Kansas City
Moral imbalance
In her column, “Harassing Sanders only plays into Trump’s hands,” Melinda Henneberger’s argument seems to be: “Don’t play down to Trump’s level, it’ll only make things worse. Where are all the decent people?” (June 26, 11A)
Although I understand, I believe this is wrong. This is not a normal presidential administration. These are not decent times.
The images and news of the child-detention centers are disgusting, heartbreaking and cruel. This is not a policy move “liberals” bristle over. This is a human rights violation — one that echoes the darkest chapters in history. I consider it a form of ethnic cleansing. We should loudly condemn it at every opportunity.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders being refused (politely, by all reports) service at a restaurant is a small price to pay for her role in this. Now the restaurant is the target of a hate campaign by supporters of President Donald Trump.
Remind me who needs to behave better?
The “gotta hear both sides” media landscape has given far too much oxygen to the rising wave of white nationalism in America. That — not politicians being minutely inconvenienced — is a grave threat to America.
Jay Cook
Lee’s Summit
No lies here
I was appalled by Melinda Henneberger’s description of Sarah Huckabee Sanders as a liar. For me, Sanders is a superhero. She is able to stand up to all the negative, hateful treatment she receives from those who disagree with her political and moral opinions. She does not back down. I greatly admire her ability to do this without flinching and with class.
No, she is not a liar. She merely states opinions and positions that the left does not hold. Those on the left can call black white. To them, anyone who calls black black is lying, when it is a difference of view. I steadfastly uphold these views as well.
Difference of opinion is not lying.
Jean Muirhead
Lawrence
Whom to ask
In Vahe Gregorian’s column in Sunday’s sports section, he quotes Royals general manager Dayton Moore concerning the team’s interest in Luke Heimlich. (1B, “Royals should stay away from Heimlich”)
Moore said, “We continue to seek information that allows us to be comfortable in pursuing Luke (Heimlich).”
“You try to be open minded,” he also said.
Perhaps it would best serve Moore in his pursuit of fairness and forgiveness — not to mention his pursuit of “information” (or a left-handed pitcher) — if he asked the victim of Heimlich’s crime or her parents how her life has changed as a result of Luke Heimlich.
Have the lives of that girl and her family been irreparably damaged?
They might very well be the best source of the information Moore seeks. And that would be a very “open-minded” course of action.
Jim Stanker
Merriam
This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 8:36 PM.