Gay Group Wrong to Support Marmillion

Your article (April 3) about Rep. Anthony Beilenson’s challenge in the Democratic primary by Val Marmillion reports in consecutive paragraphs these ideas expressed by the Human Rights Fund:

1--”The Human Rights Fund, a Washington-based gay rights advocacy group, confirms that Beilenson has . . . consistently supported homosexual rights.”

2--”The fund, nonetheless, has endorsed Marmillion and contributed $5,000 to his campaign.”

3--” ’Beilenson has been an excellent member of Congress in terms of the issues the Human Rights Fund is concerned about,’ political director Eric Rosenthal said. ‘However, we think it’s very important that the gay and lesbian community support openly lesbian and gay candidates.’ ”

Using the same logic, blacks should vote for blacks because they’re black and women for women because they’re women. If that follows, then heterosexuals should vote for heterosexuals because they’re heterosexuals, whites for whites because they’re whites and men for men because they’re men.

What nonsense! The decisions one makes are sometimes less important than the criteria one uses to make the decisions. And for selecting a congressman, what should be less important than his sexual preference, the color of his skin and his sex? Are voters no longer concerned with a candidate’s record? The quality and feasibility of his ideas? Being well represented in all aspects of their lives influenced by Congress? Come on! We Homo sapiens are more than our external genitalia.

M. STEPHEN SHELDON

Studio City