Letters to the editor: Idaho Republicans, anti-transgender bill, infringing on rights, supermajority

GOP

Recently there was discussion about encouraging independent voters to change their voter registration to Republican to vote in the closed Republican primary in an effort to save the Republican Party from itself.

A few weeks after that, a poll was done in Idaho regarding measures to protect against the pandemic. Half of voting-age Idahoans were anti-mask and anti-vax, totally buying in to the Trump, GOP, Fox News, Idaho Freedom Foundation, MAGA, QAnon and Russian disinformation and anti-science campaigns about COVID.

So not much chance of saving the party, either in the primary or in November.

Meanwhile, the people they have elected, from school boards to city councils and county commissions to the Legislature and other positions, are turning Idaho into the Florida or Texas of the Northwest.

Dallas Chase, Boise

Transgender bill

The Idaho House approved legislation H.675 making it a felony for physicians to provide age-appropriate, medically necessary, gender affirming care for transgender children. Denying individuals best practice, healthcare because you don’t personally approve of their identity is blatant discrimination and dangerous for all Idahoans.

Legislators supporting this law are choosing to ignore that all relevant major medical organizations (the American Association of Pediatrics, The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, etc.) support gender-affirming care. The medical community has made it crystal clear: Legislation like this is dangerous and should not become law.

The Senate must listen to Idaho’s trans kids, their parents, their families, their physicians and the broader community about the devastating impacts this legislation will have on trans kids and take a stand against this divisive, performative fear mongering.

Regardless of your political leaning, belief system, or whether you personally believe all kids deserve to be respected for who they are, this bill, if passed, will have real negative consequences for all Idahoans. Existing physicians will stop practicing here and new physicians won’t practice here. With the rapid growth in our state we need a community that attracts more physicians, not laws that scare them away. #protecttranskids

Whitney Jones, Boise

Infringing on rights

Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and the economy that rose to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.

This is what Idaho is becoming. The Legislature is denying the people their U.S. constitutional rights to freedom of expression and threatening to arrest librarians? Are they out of their minds? They are denying children the right to medical care because they are different, they have, for years denied women the rights granted them 49 years ago and they want to deny the rights of the elderly, infirm and others the right to vote based on nothing more than the lies spewed by the right wing partners regarding the fake voter fraud. Now their caregivers can’t take their ballots in to be counted? No ballot boxes for them to drop them off? There has been no voter fraud in Idaho.

They have stepped over the line.

For the party that wanted less government in our lives, you are now becoming the Hitlers of the USA. I’m sick of this and I know a lot of others are, too.

K.C. Cowen, Emmett

Supermajority

Why do we need 67% in favor of a school bond to get it passed? Is it because we don’t want them to pass? Some have passed anyway, so I guess it’s time to require 90% in favor to get them passed. Our state legislature has empowered a one-third minority to set policy. This is not very democratic, but it’s much easier for our legislators.

Allen Lee Wenger, Boise