I’d like to know if you read the letter to the editor from Rabbi Leiter, a rabbi who supposedly “helps” children (“Objections to Two LGBT Bills” January 7, 2020), before you printed it. This is not politics, this is not an issue about tuition or taxes or whom to vote for in an election. These are lives. This rabbi apparently believes that people choose to be gay, a point that has been scientifically disproven time and time again. And honestly, the question of whether sexual orientation is genetic is irrelevant to our obligation as Jews to treat human beings with same-sex attractions and orientations with dignity and respect.

Do you know there are Orthodox kids in our community who are questioning their sexuality, kids who know they are gay but have been told that their identity is not valid? LGBTQ kids who may already be contemplating suicide? How do you think they’d feel if they read this letter in their community newspaper while looking for photos of themselves in school, or flipping through to see who is superstar of the week? Do you know there are kids in your neighborhood day schools who choose not to be observant anymore because they have heard and read rhetoric like this from rabbis their whole lives? Are our kids all not created in the image of God? Do they not deserve love and respect from their community?

Printing the letter from Rabbi Leiter was incredibly reckless and could have endangered many lives. You have a responsibility to your community with this platform, and your readers deserve better.