I was deeply gratified to have my column, “Non-judgmental tolerance, vaunted by liberals, is not a virtue,” published in the July 12 edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram. Hard though it may be to believe, about 15 years elapsed from when I first saw the “tolerance” bumper sticker referenced to my completion of the published draft. Tolerance is a slippery topic.

No writer likes to be edited, but I am forced to admit that the opinion editors’ headline was much
stronger than my submitted headline, “On the moral neutrality (and hidden peril) of tolerance.” And I thank them for that.

However, I take strong exception to the editors replacing my line, “Who’d have believed — even just 10 years ago — that biological men would be allowed to compete in women’s sports, including locker room access,” with the line, “Who’d have believed — even just 10 years ago — that people assigned male at birth would be allowed to compete in women’s sports, including locker room access.”

This places me in the same camp with those who believe that gender is determined by what
is between your ears, not by your chromosomes, and undermines the whole premise of my column.

Charles Todorich
South Portland