Non-Discrimination
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Louis P. Sheldon has confused “affirmative action” and “non-discrimination.” His Column Right of Aug. 11 states that the Catholic Church had not complied with the New York City Council’s “order on affirmative action for homosexuals.”
The council’s policy forbids discrimination against people based on sexual orientation; it does not mandate affirmative action--that is, the seeking out and hiring of them. This in an important distinction.
Sheldon’s misstatement is probably deliberate. He knows that Americans are divided on affirmative action but are against discrimination. He knows that to whip up public fervor against gays he has to invoke the specter that they will be hired because they are gay. Actually, non-discrimination laws simply state that people can’t be fired or turned out of their homes because they are gay.
JOHN KROLL
Sherman Oaks
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