William Dannemeyer in his guest column on gays in the military (Dec. 23, Op-Ed) is completely off base with his comments and knows very little about the homosexual community. He seems obsessed with the sexual activity of gays, focusing especially on the act of sodomy. In doing so, he misses the point.
Gays are in the military as much today as they were in the time of the Romans. The difference today is that many homosexuals are speaking up.
Mr. Dannemeyer`s ”rational basis to discriminate” is that homosexuals are unhealthy. Homosexuals can claim no ownership to STDs, AIDS, cancer or any other of a host of diseases plaguing the world today. He seems to think that AIDS is exclusive to the homosexual community.
The homosexual and heterosexual communities have their share of the good and the bad, the normal and the aberrant. But in neither community is good or bad determined by sexuality.
I disagree with his ideas and statements, but I applaud those men and women, both straight and gay, who fought and perhaps lost their lives to preserve the right that he enjoys to express his ideas openly.
