Living With HIV
To the editor:
I read with concern the potential national impact of Becerra v. Braidwood, the case now awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court and, like everyone on the Outer Cape, am very grateful that Outer Cape Health Services’ testNtreat program and the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod serve our community so professionally and compassionately.
Your article [“Outer Cape Prepares for Federal Ruling on HIV Prevention Meds,” Feb. 20, page A7] missed an opportunity by conflating two related but different issues, which sadly still happens far too often even among folks who should know better by now.
That Provincetown has the highest percentage of residents living with HIV in Massachusetts is actually not relevant to the topic of PrEP, which is pre-exposure prevention. HIV+ people whose viral load is so low as to be undetectable have been shown to not transmit the infection. Period. So, the fact that Provincetown has the highest percentage of HIV+ residents in the state is the wrong statistic.
I’m sure the reason why the Dept. of Public Health is eager to continue supporting testNtreat and ASGCC is because of the high percentage of sexually actively gay men who live in, work in, or visit Provincetown, most of whom are HIV- and who can therefore benefit enormously from PrEP and stand to potentially lose their insurance coverage for PrEP if the court rules for the plaintiffs.
Jay Gurewitsch
Provincetown
The ‘Road of Ruin’
To the editor:
This is what I would say to President Trump if I had his ear.
Dear Mr. President:
I fear you are taking our country down a road of ruin. I fear your legacy will be the crushing of liberty and freedom of expression and demolishing the rule of law.
I write this, treasuring my First Amendment right to free speech.
You won the election with 49.8 percent of the votes cast. It was not a mandate to undo our way of life, which was on the road to fuller inclusion for all in American society, fuller celebration of the cultures that make up America, and increasing support for the needy among us.
Since the founding of this country, we have been a multicultural society. We must acknowledge that the European founders believed they had the right to take this continent, to decimate the Indigenous population, and to prosper through the labor of enslaved people.
I pray that you will turn away from wreaking havoc on the balance of powers in our government, and that you will respect the role of Congress to decide on spending and the role of the courts to adjudicate disputes.
I am a person of faith. I believe that we are commanded to share with others our abundance. Cutting off foreign aid and denying medication and food to the neediest on our planet is cruel.
Two of my children’s grandparents somehow managed to survive the Nazi concentration camps. It is with horror that I watch your administration embrace parties that espouse neo-Nazi ideology.
With all my best hopes for the future of our country and its role in the community of nations as a source of aid and sustenance, which we are able to perform because of our abundance.
Judith S. Hadley
Eastham
The ‘King’ and His Crown
To the editor:
The Mayflower Compact was signed in Provincetown Harbor on Nov. 11, 1620. This first democratic document was the foundation of the U.S. Constitution 167 years later. Provincetown is the birthplace of democracy in this country, so it upsets me greatly when I see the most powerful man in America labeling himself a “king.” His hubris would be comical if it wasn’t so terrifying.
Our forefathers fought to rid themselves of the shackles of the English king 250 years ago. Now we have what is little more than a Russian puppet in control of our country.
The fact that the White House would post something so egregious as a picture of Trump wearing a crown shows me where we are as a nation.
Our children and grandchildren will suffer the most for our reticence at this crucial time in our country’s history. I know there is a feeling of powerlessness, but we are far from helpless or hopeless. We need to fight this travesty.
If we do not learn from the past, we are destined to repeat it. It is time to have our voices heard and stand up for what is right.
Lisa King
Provincetown
For Local Option Taxes
To the editor:
The Municipal Empowerment Act (MEA) is a package of reforms filed by the Healey-Driscoll administration to help local governments deliver high-quality services to their communities. The MEA includes local-option tax programs to generate revenue by providing the option to increase the lodging tax and local meals tax and to add a motor vehicle surcharge.
Towns across Massachusetts have limited options for raising the revenue we need to deliver the high-quality services our residents deserve. Given the political climate we are facing and the instability of supportive federal funds, it is essential that the Commonwealth offer opportunities like local option taxes to help towns build funding streams that work for them.
Currently, the primary tool available to fund our towns is property taxes. We know that homeowners are already struggling with the high cost of living and housing. The MEA would give us more tools to raise revenue without having to raise property taxes.
I endorse the MEA and hope to see the local option tax programs used across Massachusetts.
Jamie Demetri
Eastham
The writer is a member of the Eastham Select Board.
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
