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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 9, 1993                   TAG: 9304120246
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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COMIC'S CREATOR IS NOT AN AUTHORITY

ONCE AGAIN I take pen in hand to protest the Roanoke Times & World-News' handling of a very serious subject - youthful homosexuality. By running the comic strip, "For Better Or For Worse" by Lynn Johnston, I feel the supposed help a teen-ager might receive in apprising his or her parents of the problem is by far outweighed by the danger of many children in this age group being persuaded that this is a normal problem. This subject is one on which doctors, psychologists and others with more knowledge than Ms. Johnston do not agree, and I feel she is not qualified to receive this much recognition as an authority.

The effects are (to me) similar to the way I have always regretted that the popular term "sexually active" was not termed "sexually immoral," thus putting the stigma where it belonged. This connotation might have caused some to view the experience in a more beneficial (certainly a more healthful) light. LOUISE W. SPANGLER ELLISTON

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