Why would straight woman celebrate Pride Month?
I am often asked why I celebrate Pride Month. I am a straight, cisgendered woman and the mother of four daughters. They are the reason.
Because people before me were brave enough to be unapologetically themselves, because they relentlessly and indefatigably carved out a spot for themselves in society, my oldest daughter found her happily ever after.
There was a wedding; there were father-daughter dances; there will be family. Sound familiar? That's the point ― my daughter now gets to have the same basic things that your kids do, and I'm so proud of that. I'm proud of us as a society. But mostly, I'm just a proud mama.
Now, I'm the president of the only PFLAG chapter on the Treasure Coast, and I'm a part of a group of affirming adults trying to give something just as normal as a wedding to the queer and ally students of our community.
The Second Annual Treasure Coast Queer Prom, scheduled for 7 p.m. June 29, in Stuart, is a safe space for LGBTQ+ kids who just want to have fun without fear of judgment, cynicism or just plain cruelty. The prom is for high-school students through age 21. Those under the age of 18 must be dropped off by parents, who will be asked to sign permission forms.
There will be raffles, pizza and plenty of chaperones to make sure your kids are safe, happy and celebrated for being exactly who they are.
And if you are a parent having trouble understanding your child or the queer community, please reach out to PFLAG Stuart. We are a safe place for all parents who come with a desire to truly learn and understand. Email us at pflagstuartfl@gmail.com for information about our chapter or to register for the Queer Prom.
Christina Kaiser, Stuart
Revisit Three Corners with eye toward environment, sustainability
I appreciate the Vero Beach City Council for expressing concern over Three Corners’ future.
Let’s take another look of the advantage of the open space available adjacent to our beloved Indian River Lagoon, where little green space is left.Let’s not pave it over. Nature heals us mentally and physically.
Downtown, there are few places for future parks and outdoor recreation.At much less cost, we have an excellent opportunity for residents and tourists to enjoy kayaking, sailing, fishing, birding and photography surrounded by restful green space. Private enterprise can renovate nearby city areas for hotels, restaurants and cottages for visitors. Why not the former Press Journal site instead of a storage area? The power plant building, if healthy and saved, is ideal for a conference center; the water storage tanks for meetings, exhibits, education.
Pelican Island Audubon is happy to collaborate with partners. We have distributed more than 24,300 native trees and plants and planted four demonstration gardens where people can relax, be inspired and enjoy nature. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity, we will plant 100% native plantsin a development for 14 homes.
At less expense, Three Corners is ideal for having a meandering trail through gardens with native trees and plants with educational and exercise stations for all ages and family picnicking in the shade.
We have an environmental crisis. The Vero Beach council started this nature emphasis by removing all sod around City Hall and planting gardens. Three Corners can be an example how to face climate change, sea-level rise and pollution of our waterways — an example of how we all can use composting, solar, natural, recycled water to maintain plantings.
Pelican Island Audubon would welcome a genuine proposal that incorporates all of our suggestions for making this waterfront site a place for nature, not concrete.
Richard H. Baker, Sebastian
Ensure proper testing before Three Corners fouls lagoon
There has been a great deal of news and comments concerning the proposed upcoming construction at the Three Corners Vero Beach site.
Thousands of dollars have been spent on consultants to determine design criteria. My question is simply: Has anyone addressed the possibility of contaminated soil from years of fuel oil and chemical storage at the power house site?
The cooling water towers site (equipment was sold several years ago) was subject to chloride contamination. New construction could loosen the contaminated soil, allowing these chemicals to percolate and leach into the river. The Three Corners soil should be tested prior to construction.
Norman R. Gordon, Vero Beach
Stuart addiction rehab center transparent on claims of success
In his May 30 commentary on the detox center proposed and recently denied by the city of Stuart, Blake Fontenay made some inaccurate claims about our company.
He wrote: “What got glossed over (intentionally, I believe) in this debate is Coastal Detox, a 35-bed treatment center, has been operating less than a mile away on Indian Street with no reported problems.”
No credible professional in the substance use disorder treatment industry would ever claim to operate without problems. In fact, we did just the opposite. We intentionally disclosed, unprompted, to city officials in writing, our lifetime number of patients served since opening eight years ago — alongside the number of those who left treatment against medical advice (AMAs).
Thanks to our professional staff and continuum of care, we’ve achieved an AMA rate of 15% — well below the reported national industry average of 23%.
We voluntarily revealed such information to illustrate the difficult realities of this industry. Such realities are also why even though we’re licensed for 80 beds, we limit our capacity to 35 beds. This better controls the challenges and unintended consequences associated with this field.
Your columnist could’ve been more accurate by making a simple call to our office or requesting information from the city.
Having helped thousands of individuals and families in their battles with this disease, we can appreciate and relate to his obvious passion for people in treatment. But assuming the role of advocate doesn’t excuse his failure to even attempt to confirm whether the claims he made about our company are true before putting them in print.
Christina Tucker, Stuart
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The column in question referenced reports of people leaving treatment at Coastal Detox and then causing problems in the surrounding neighborhood. If there were any instances of that occurring, they were never mentioned during the extensive public debate about the issue.)
How can we let felons run for president?
If I have my facts correct:
In two states and the District of Columbia, felons never lose their right to vote.
In 23 states, felons lose their voting rights only while incarcerated.
In 15 states, felons lose their voting rights while incarcerated and for a period of time afterward.
In 10 states, felons lose their voting rights indefinitely.
And yet a convicted felon is allowed to run for president. There is something horribly wrong with this scenario.
Jeff Howe, Vero Beach
JFK would not recognize today's Democratic Party
I agree with a recent writer that there are bums at “every level of government,” but we disagree on whoseside these bums are on.
He thinks it’s only the GOP.Newsflash: This is not his parents' Democratic Party.
He needs to take a good, hard look at the people who have somehow taken a party that used to look out for the interests of the middle class and the poor and turned it into a self-interest group of takers. These self-interests include green energy, DEI, open borders, student loan debt forgiveness, weaponizing the Department of Justice and the list goes on.
This group of “bums” will stop at nothing to get what they want and Joe Biden is their tool. They will not allow their hard work to be wasted,changing voting regulations, enlisting U.S. intelligence veterans to lie about the laptop, opening our southern border, electing weak-on-crime politicians, to name a few of their “accomplishments.”
Their most recent threat todemocracy is the weaponization of the legal system by going after Biden’s leading political opponent. The judge was a loyal anti-Trump Democrat and the district attorney got elected by promising to “get Trump.” A gag order was slapped on the former president.
They care little about Americans getting disillusioned aboutour system of justice or how we are perceived by the rest of the world. These “bums” only want to stay in power because their progressive vision of our beautiful country is not complete.
If you still think this is the party of your parents, I can tell you now that Joe is no JFK.
Patricia Perrone, Stuart
Here's pledge GOP House oversight members seem to take
The House Oversight Committee began its probe of Attorney General Merrick Garland with the Pledge of Allegiance. I don't think any Republican reciting those words believed what they were saying. I believe they would have preferred the MAGA Pledge of Allegiance:
"I pledge allegiance to Donald John Trump over the United States of America. Neither to the republic, nor the Constitution, which he wants to destroy ― this nation — because he thinks he's God, with liberty and justice for none" (unless you're willing to kiss his behind).
Brian E. Cowan, Port St. Lucie
Trump not first honorable leader to be wrongfully convicted
Throughout history, many innocent, righteous individuals have been harassed, arrested and wrongfully convicted in kangaroo courts, even executed, by dishonest morally corrupt fanatics and liars.
Martin Luther King, for one. Nelson Mandela. Mahatma Gandhi.Untold millions of innocent victims were killed during the Nazi regime. Even Jesus Christ.
Now Donald J. Trump has been added to this honorable list.
May those who orchestrated this judicial atrocity, along with all those who support, agree with, tolerate and enable this miscarriage of justice and the animals responsible for it,face their own judgment.
Barry Godofsky, Port St Lucie
Rubio, Scott mock U.S. Senate, women
On May 31, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott signed a letter, along with their colleagues Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, Eric Schmitt, Tommy Tuberville and J.D. Vance, vowing to block all judicial appointees.
The following is their vow copied from Scott's webpage:
“The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference, we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart.
"To that end, we will not 1) allow any increase to non-security related funding for this administration, or any appropriations bill which funds partisan lawfare; 2) vote to confirm this administration’s political and judicial appointees; and 3) allow expedited consideration and passage of Democrat legislation or authorities that are not directly relevant to the safety of the American people.”
I ask, could you refrain from doing your job because you were bitter about a conviction of a criminal?
The Republican Party thwarted Merrick Garland's nomination for the Supreme Court in March 2016, stating it was too close to an election. In March 2016, Sen. Mitch McConnell wrote "you have to go back to 1888 to find an election-year nominee who was nominated and confirmed." In September 2020, Amy Coney Barrett was nominated for the Supreme Court and, low and behold, she was appointed in October 2020. In one month's time.
Fast-forward to today's mind-blowing vote. Rubio and Scott voted no on a bill to go forward to protect Americans' access to contraceptives. Do you really want the government to decide if you can use an IUD or not? Does this make any sense to anyone?
We're much smarter than this. Please vote in August and November.
Deborah Van Zee, Fort Pierce
Democracy endangered? Yes, here's how
Defending our democracy? How have the Democrats and mainstream media gone so far off the rails? From locking our children out of school and firing our military and medical professionals for not taking a vaccine that was far from proven to be effective.
The left has proven time and again it will win at any cost to democracy.
The Department of Homeland Security has lied for over three years that our borders are secure, yet all too often innocent people, including our cops, are attacked by illegal immigrants.
The Department of Justice has a double standard. It raids the home of a former president to seize documents that he may or may not have known were top secret while it peacefully takes documents our president has been hoarding for years. The department is prosecuting the former president, but special counsel Robert Hur decided the sitting president should receive a pass because he is just an old and feeble man.
I hear time and time again no one is above the law, but what they really mean is no Republican is above the law. Hillary Clinton deleted hundreds of emails that would have proved election interference, then destroyed the software: no prosecution.
Hunter Biden's laptop was swept under the rug until after the 2020 election. Adam Schiff lied to Congress about the Russian collusion he and all his left-wing cronies spent four years trying to pin on Donald Trump.
I agree that our democracy is in danger. We need to realize who it is in danger from.
Jim Wilson, Port St. Lucie
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach Three Corners; Martin County rehab OK; straight Pride ally
