Dornan on Gays

The cheap shots from The Times are coming at us again. Your editorial of June 28 (“How Best to Remember Stonewall”) is nothing but a transparent attempt to portray as bigots people who refuse to glorify the homosexual lifestyle. But they are not bigots. They just recognize that there is a vast difference between civil rights for all Americans and special rights for a group that is distinguished solely by its sexual conduct. They also recognize that homosexuality--no matter how often it is couched in terms such as “alternative lifestyle” and “sexual orientation”--is inherently immoral.

Even more egregious is your interpretation of my speech in opposition to funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. It was not a speech to “bash gays.” It was, however, a speech designed to expose the kind of obscene projects, often depicting graphic homosexual acts, that are funded by the NEA. These projects do not fit even the loosest definition of art and run contrary to the standards and principles held by a clear majority of Americans. I fully support freedom of expression, including the arts, but using tax dollars to support what most Americans find abhorrent is idiotic, not to mention a frivolous drain on the federal budget.

REP. ROBERT K. DORNAN

R-Garden Grove