<\/p>\n
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows<\/p>\n
Brandon Bell<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Bad apples<\/p>\n
I read Bud Kennedy\u2019s column on Texas considering annexing part of New Mexico<\/a> with interest, amusement and horror. (April 5, 1C, \u201cTexas wants to take oil land from New Mexico. What could go wrong?\u201d)<\/p>\n As a 49-year resident of Fort Worth now living in Albuquerque, I was not surprised by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows considering plans to take land from eastern New Mexico. Such is the mentality of the uniquely grandiose Republican-dominated Texas Legislature. That kind of Texan gives Texas a bad name in my home state of New Mexico.<\/p>\n It\u2019s too bad, because I found during my years there that Texans are a welcoming and friendly people. A few bad apples continue to spoil their reputation.<\/p>\n – Arturo Montoya, Albuquerque, New Mexico<\/p>\n Control, not care<\/p>\n The Supreme Court\u2019s decision to strike down Colorado\u2019s ban on conversion therapy is a harmful setback for LGBTQ+ Americans. (April 5, 6A, \u201cOur best-read U.S. & World stories\u201d) In its 8-1 ruling, the court ignored well-documented evidence of harm, especially for young people. The Trevor Project reports that LGBTQ+ young people subjected to conversion therapy are much more likely to attempt suicide.<\/a><\/p>\n Framed as \u201cfaith-based,\u201d conversion therapy is not care \u2014 it is control. It is a pseudoscience that pressures individuals to deny who they are to be accepted. It silences and shames, and is particularly damaging during the formative years of adolescence.<\/p>\n This ruling risks undoing protections across the country and legitimizing unsafe, unregulated practices. It also reflects a false theology that narrows God\u2019s love rather than embracing it.<\/p>\n God\u2019s love is not conditional. It affirms that we are already beloved and already worthy \u2014 just the way we are.<\/p>\n – Rev. Jordan Conley, Fort Worth<\/p>\n No on G<\/p>\n