Rights Panel Chief

So William Allen of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission believes that protection of minority rights causes social divisiveness. Well, I suppose so. As long as minorities “knew their place” and did not raise their voices in protest, things looked peaceful--never mind the injustice. We might even give Allen the benefit of the doubt and say he is advocating the theory of “benign neglect.” Under this theory minorities quietly work out their own problems without undue attention from the mainstream.

If that is the case, what is he doing at (Rev.) Lou Sheldon’s anti-homosexual conference? “Benign neglect” is the furthest thing from the minds of Sheldon, (Rep.) William Dannemeyer and their cohorts. They would ban gay and lesbian groups from access to public parks, recriminalize homosexual conduct in California, bar gays and lesbians from teaching, and forbid the appearance of homoerotic art in publicly funded museums.

This is government tyranny and interference, not a policy of hands off.

Professor Allen’s theories might have some debatable academic interest, but his appearance at Sheldon’s conference marks him as a bigot and a homophobe.

ROBERT R. HODGES

Huntington Beach