Extremists who distort facts on homosexuality Yet again, Gordon Truscott is distorting the facts about homosexuality ('We must help our gay friends', September 4). HIV transmission's main cause is not homosexuality itself, but unprotected sex - regardless of sexual orientation. Although Mr Truscott professes a caring attitude, he shows scant interest in the majority that are not infected through gay sex, no doubt since they are not useful in furthering his anti-gay agenda. Again, he incorrectly seeks to establish links between homosexuality and emotional or relationship damage suffered in childhood. Many reliable scientific studies have established that, for the vast majority of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people, no such link exists. Mr Truscott's proposed 'reparative therapy' has been thoroughly discredited. The overwhelming mainstream medical and scientific consensus is that sexual orientation cannot be changed, while any 'therapy' to try this change is ineffective at best, and often harmful. In the United States alone, professional organisations representing more than 477,000 health professionals support this view. The only organisations claiming opposite 'evidence' - they were created solely to promote conservative Christian views on this single issue - represent no more than around 1,000, often very vocal, extremists. Discrimination - and people like Mr Truscott, advocating ideas that 'something is wrong and needs changing' - are key reasons many young gay people are disturbed about their sexual orientation. Unlike Mr Truscott's claims, despite society's lack of support for same-sex relationships, many gay men and women experience positive, fulfilling lives and relationships. The basis for this lies in self-acceptance and self-love, far healthier alternatives to Mr Truscott's proposals. With society gradually becoming more accepting towards its LGBT members, more may feel comfortable about coming out of the closet, providing positive role models. In this respect, the new social services centre for homosexuals is a small but welcome step in the right direction. Christof van der Stichele, Kennedy Town Muddling the Taiwan debate The trouble with Andrew Tay ('Fanciful claim', September 3) and Tony Ngan ('Taiwan is a province', August 30), is that they mix up the entity 'country' with the 'government' that administers it. So they don't seem to realise that there is the one country, China, and two governments, the People's Republic of China (PRC) government and the Republic of China (ROC) government. They administer, for the time being, the mainland part of China and the Taiwan province part of China, respectively. That is why Mr Tay argues 'any claim that Taiwan is part of the PRC is fanciful'. Of course the territory of Taiwan is not a part of the PRC government, but it is a part of the one country China. It was ceded to Japan in 1895 and returned to China in 1945, just as Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842 and returned to China in 1997. Never mind which governments signed the relevant treaties. Peter Lok, Chai Wan Needed: more ambulances Following the recent, fatal blunder involving an improperly given injection, the government should rethink its policy on emergency medical services in Hong Kong. One area that needs improving is the ambulance service. I became aware of this when I saw firemen helping an elderly man with breathing problems on the street one day. I discovered later that they were 'first responders' - firemen trained with basic, ambulance-level medical knowledge, to respond to cases. But firemen should not be expected to respond to medical cases. They should remain in their stations on standby, waiting for fires or other emergencies. Their use as first responders could indicate that there are excess personnel in the fire service and not enough ambulance personnel. This shows that planners have overlooked key changes in Hong Kong's infrastructure. It should be easy for the government to see Hong Kong's structural change from an industrial to an ageing city: it began a long time ago. This has created an ever-increasing need for ambulance services, while fire-related incidents in future are expected to drop due to improved fire safety measures. The number of firemen could be capped or reduced. And the number of ambulance personnel should be increased to cope with the ageing society. Molina Hui, Hung Hom Fishing permits in marine parks I write in response to the letter from WWF Hong Kong, 'Sad end for young shark' (September 5). The Country and Marine Parks Authority may issue permits to bona fide fishermen to fish in marine parks, under the Marine Parks and Marine Reserve Regulation. The purpose is to minimise the impact of creating marine parks on the livelihood of fishermen, especially the elderly ones who have been engaged in coastal, small-scale fishing with limited mobility. The permits issued are not transferable, so that they may be phased out eventually. Over the years, the number of permits issued to fishermen has declined, from some 800 in 1996 to about 360 this year, as of last month. The department is closely monitoring fish abundance in marine parks. In recent years, fish have been more abundant in the parks than in surrounding waters. We will continue to keep the situation under close review. Joseph Sham, for the director of agriculture, fisheries and conservation Plastic bags One has to feel some sympathy for those who will lose out from any social shift away from using non-biodegradable plastic bags. However, the move has to be made, and they need not suffer. Forget about a levy on plastic bags. The last thing Hong Kong needs is more bureaucracy. The simple solution is to ban plastic bags. This has already happened in many parts of the mainland - which is most progressive in many respects, as insular Hong Kong so often fails to realise. On a recent trip to Lijiang , we were impressed to find that all the shops offered biodegradable bags - for 50 cents, the same as the levy proposed in Hong Kong - for people who forget to bring their own. No one complains, the shops place advertisements on the bags to recoup their costs, and those who make and distribute the bags have a new product line to replace the old. Everyone wins (including the environment), and the government doesn't get a look in. What more could we ask for? Simon Harris, North Point Real charities? Whenever people in the street ask me to buy a doll or some other accessory, supposedly to raise funds for a charity, I am sceptical about whether or not they are genuine. Hongkongers must have similar feelings about many organisations: they must wonder if this or that 'charity' group is genuine. This shows there is a need to regulate the charities. Setting up a law to regulate charities can ensure that donations go to the people who need the money. Chan Wai-shun, Kwun Tong
