Taneytown Pride Day should be embraced
As a proud member of the Taneytown community, I want to express my gratitude to Fun Events, LLC, for their commendable initiative in organizing Pride Day in our town. This event represents significant progress toward inclusivity and diversity and instills hope for a more accepting future. It’s a moment we should all cherish and support.
Pride Day encompasses more than just a festive occasion; it showcases genuine leadership and courage by bringing people from different walks of life together to celebrate love, acceptance and unity. The efforts have created a memorable day and set a precedent for future events that promote inclusivity and understanding in our town.
However, while we celebrate this milestone, it is also essential to reflect on the role of our city’s leadership in this process. With a sense of disappointment, I must express my dissatisfaction with the mayor and the City Council for not taking this initiative.
The responsibility of elected officials is to lead with integrity and create an inclusive and accepting atmosphere. The organization of Taneytown’s first Pride Day should have been a priority for our city leadership, demonstrating their commitment to all residents, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. Their lack of initiative is a missed opportunity to show that Taneytown is a town that embraces all its citizens.
The expression of condemnatory statements directed at the LGBTQ+ community online by some members of our community is truly disheartening. These statements do not reflect the spirit of unity and respect that should define Taneytown.
Every individual in our community deserves to feel safe, valued, and accepted for who they are. The negative comments and hostility directed at the LGBTQ+ community are not only hurtful but also counterproductive to the progress we aim to achieve as a community.
As we move forward, I urge all citizens of Taneytown not just to embrace, but actively promote the values of inclusivity, respect and understanding. Let us learn from the example of Fun Events, LLC, and work together to create a more welcoming and supportive environment for everyone.
Our city’s leadership must step up and actively promote and organize events that celebrate diversity. It is also time for us, as a community, to stand against discrimination and hatred in all of its forms. We all have a role in this, and it’s up to us to make Taneytown a place where everyone feels at home.
David Buie, Taneytown
Required reading about homosexuality for letter writer
I encourage Michael Hurley (“The evolution of sexual deviance,” Carroll County Times June 30,) 2024) to do some more reading before he shares his opinions about homosexuality.
The American Psychological Association website clearly states that homosexuality is not a disorder. To further quote from the website, www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/orientation, “most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.”
On the other hand, misguided and xenophobic opinions espoused by Hurley fuel the need for changes to our laws that support the rights of all Americans regardless of sexual orientation, so maybe he should keep talking. He’s already encouraged me to share my own opinions.
As an elementary educator, I can assure him that, upon seeing a title like “Heather Has Two Mommies,” students will either choose not to read it, read it and learn that there are many types of families in the world or read it and finally see themselves represented in their school library.
When Heather’s two mommies came to my school, there was nothing deviant about them. Their agenda was to run the bake sale or watch the Halloween parade along with all the other parents who were simply supporting their children at school. Maybe “Heather Has Two Mommies” is a good place to start reading, Mr. Hurley.
Paul Norfolk, Eldersburg
Proud to display American flag on my vehicle, at my home
Two different people in the last week have told me to take down the American car flags I was flying because the flags supposedly indicate I am a Republican supporter, so I did. Does this mean that I also must remove my American flag currently flying at my home? That will never happen!
With 21 years of military experience and 34 years working for our federal government (some of it overlapping), I am proud to display our American flag on my vehicle and at my home. I consider myself a patriot and would defend this country today if asked.
To fly my flags wherever and whenever I choose is my right as an American, that myself and millions of other men and women have earned that right but I wanted to do so without making a political statement.
May God bless America!
Steven A. Duex Sr., Westminster
The rule of law can’t be secondary to politcal power
Just a thought to ponder: What if Al Capone had held power over the selection of local judges? But what if, because of obvious facts that prove guilt, the local court can’t do anything but convict him?
Capone still would laugh off the conviction and rest easy at night if he had power over the appointment of appeals judges and U.S. Supreme Court Justices. And the rule of law? If America allows the rule of law to be secondary to political power, what happens to democracy? What happens to our towns and villages? What happens to America?
John D. Witiak, Union Bridge
