An important detail was omitted from The Roslyn News' clear, succinct account of the school district's embezzlement scandal: The relationship between former school Superintendent Frank Tassone and Stephen Signorelli. The latter, identified only as a Roslyn school vendor sentenced to one to three years in prison, had lived with Tassone for years, and, according to published reports, the two men had had a commitment ceremony. After Signorelli came under suspicion, he impertinently claimed that Tassone was prevented from testifying against him by the marital exemption. Only after the judge denied any such exemption did Signorelli plead guilty. If gay marriage had been New York State law, Signorelli's claim for exemption might have been upheld. And it was during Tassone's superintendancy that the first gay-straight student alliance on Long Island was established in Roslyn High School.

Nathaniel S. Lehrman, M.D.