Frederick’s column unfit for publication
To the editor:
Girls are not easy or hard, except in the nomenclature of misogynists. Despite what columnist Sherman Frederick might tell you, pregnant teenage girls are not “easy” (“Silver State girls are easy,” May 12 Review-Journal). Many of these girls and the boys who impregnate them, however, do find themselves facing the harsh consequences of decisions they made oftentimes without having critical information. These young people probably would have made different choices had they been empowered with better knowledge.
In his distorted view of women, Mr. Frederick attributes Nevada’s high teen pregnancy rate and related problems to girls being easy. The actual cause of such problems, as posited by bill proponents such as Assemblywoman Lucy Flores and Sen. Ruben Kihuen, is that Silver State girls, as well as boys, too often lack proper sexual education.
Mr. Frederick’s interpretation is illogical. Pregnancy and STDs have virtually nothing to do with being “easy,” and a lot to do with the use, misuse or lack of protection.
Teaching our youth about sex to the furthest extent permitted by science is hugely important. Sexual education is about critical scientific knowledge that our children should learn, and that we have a strong social interest to teach. For that reason, sexual education should be considered a default topic, unless parents choose to opt out of it, which is no different for those parents who choose alternate routes of education, including home schooling or other education options.
Mr. Frederick doesn’t stop at passing judgment on young women, but he also makes a judgment about courage. Assemblywoman Flores spoke about a tough decision she made many years ago to illustrate the need for comprehensive sexual education. She never qualified her decision as courageous. What was truly and strikingly apparent from her testimony is that it was an immensely difficult decision for her.
It is not for any of us, at any rate, to judge a lawful, constitutionally protected, personal decision made by Ms. Flores when she was a young woman. Just as it is not appropriate to label young pregnant women as “easy” for the purpose of attacking an important public policy decision that Mr. Frederick either is incapable of understanding or willfully pretends to not understand. Either way, disgusting and highly offensive “columns” have no place in public dialogue about very real issues Nevada currently faces.
It is incredible how someone can criticize a bill without touching upon its substance; can criticize an argument by misconstruing it through the lens of his own ignorance, sexism and racism; and can criticize people without listening to what they are actually saying. We find it disappointing that this opinion piece appeared in such a respectable and reputable publication as the Review-Journal. It is our position that pieces lacking cultural sensitivity, sound reasoning and literary merit should find no home in quality journalism.
IRENE BUSTAMANTE ADAMS,
RICHARD CARILLO, MOISES “MO” DENIS, LUCY FLORES, RUBEN KIHUEN, RICHARD “TICK” SEGERBLOM
LAS VEGAS
OLIVIA DIAZ, DINA NEAL
NORTH LAS VEGAS
TERESA BENITEZ-THOMPSON
RENO
The writers, all elected Democratic members of the Nevada Legislature, represent the Nevada Hispanic Legislative Caucus.
Vigilante justice
To the editor:
At last, taxpayers’ money goes to good use.
Page 12A of your Tuesday edition informs us that U.S. funds support the Honduras national police, which have been accused of acting as a federal death squad. These cops apparently are targeting gang members and killing them, thus saving the time and money of a trial, much to the chagrin of the gang members’ families.
We send billions of dollars to the Pakistanis, who hate us, and even more to some countries that openly despise us. It’s good at last to see some of our money going to a good cause.
Could you please email the bank details of these vigilante cops? I think I’ll send them some of my own money.
ROB BOWEN
LAS VEGAS
