Misinformed StatementSpringsJune 5, 2017To the Editor:An article in last week’s Star (“Spelling It Out: Dyslexia in Schools,” June 1) quotes Sag Harbor parent Helen Roussel’s assertion that “2 percent of the population is gay and they’ve already got their own bathrooms!”The statement is inaccurate. Gay students at Pierson Middle-High School do not have their own bathrooms.Instead, “gender neutral” bathrooms are available to all students as mandated by New York State in order to accommodate transgender students, and students who are transitioning.Transgender students are not necessarily gay, and gay students are not requesting their own bathrooms, not locally and not nationally.The context of Roussel’s misstatement is her contention that dyslexic students receive insufficient school resources because dyslexia “still doesn’t have its own designation in New York State law.” It’s unfortunate that in advocating for her son and his special needs, Roussel has made (and The Star has printed) an ungenerous and misinformed statement about students with unrelated needs; a statement that furthermore muddles the critical distinction between gay and transgender identities. The resulting confusion can only distract from Roussel’s efforts to raise awareness of and generate support for a cause that is important to her and her son.ANN DAVISONAssociationSpringsJune 3, 2017Dear David,A front-page story by Judy D’Mello in the June 1 issue (“Spelling It Out: Dyslexia in Schools”) quotes Helen Roussel as follows:“About one in five children has some form of dyslexia. That’s about 20 percent of the population, and it still doesn’t have its own designation in New York State law. . . . Meanwhile, 2 percent of the population is gay and they’ve already got their own bathrooms!”This association of gay rights with the cause of childhood dyslexia is misleading, inaccurate, ridiculous, and best serves to expose Roussel’s apparent homophobia. (Gays have their own bathrooms? By law? Really?)Couldn’t D’Mello have omitted that final sentence without compromising the point of the quote?JAMIE LERNERNo CorrelationEast HamptonJune 3, 2017To the Editor:“Two percent of the population is gay and they’ve already got their own bathrooms.” Really? Could someone please send me a list of my “own bathrooms,” in East Hampton and elsewhere? Ms. Helen Roussel’s quote had no business being in Judy D’Mello’s article “Spelling It Out: Dyslexia in Schools.” First of all, it is off topic; there is no correlation between the subject of the story and sexuality. Second, her numbers are wrong. Four point one percent of the population is estimated to be gay. Perhaps she was thinking transgender? Well, wrong again. Three-tenths percent of the population is estimated to be transgender. The Star should be more judicious in selecting quotes, especially when an article is prominently displayed on the front page. ANDREW VISCONTIMistakes All AroundAmagansettJune 4, 2017To the Editor:Regarding last week’s article on dyslexia in schools, a quote by a Sag Harbor resident, Helen Rousell, was as inaccurate as it was offensive. In her eagerness to raise awareness of the problem of diagnosing dyslexia in school-age children, Ms. Rousell muddies her argument with incorrect statistics, conflates the entire L.G.B.T. community with young trans students, gets her facts wrong, and needlessly causes insult.She shouldn’t have said it, Judy D’Mello, the writer, shouldn’t have incorporated it in the story, and The Star’s editor shouldn’t have allowed it. Mistakes all around. I look forward to reading apologies in your next issue. Yours sincerely,NEIL PARKER
Published 5 years ago
Last updated 5 years ago
Letters to the Editor: Gay Quote/Dyslexia 06.08.17
June 8, 2017