Last year, the U.S. State Department announced that James Hormel had been nominated to take over the position of United States Ambassador to Luxembourg.

However, the nomination has been put on hold by a group of conservative Senate Republicans. According to the New York Times, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss, has no plans of bringing the nomination to a vote in the Senate.

James Hormel’s philanthropy and many charitable involvements cover many issues. He supports research for breast cancer victims and charities for the homeless. He is director of the San Francisco Symphony and the Chamber of Commerce.

He is also a key benefactor of the Swarthmore College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he financed a program to encourage students to enter public-interest law.

“It would be a loss to our country to not have someone of his stellar character representing us abroad,” said Don Fisher, founder of the Gap clothing retail chain.

Internationally, Hormel has served as an alternative U.S. representative to the 51st session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Also, he was a member of the U.S. delegation in the U.N. Human Rights commission in Geneva, Switzerland.

But in spite of all these contributions and obvious qualifications, Senator Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., put a hold on Hormel’s nomination.

You see, James Hormel is gay. For this reason, and also because of his open involvement with several gay rights groups, several senators do not want Hormel appointed to the ambassador position.

According to a story in the New York Times, a religious organization called “Traditional Values” is organizing a campaign against Hormel.

Andrea Sheldon, executive director of the group, described Hormel as the Clinton administration’s “Homosexual Poster Boy.” She also claimed that Hormel was being given the post in Luxembourg so the administration could “fill its quota of homosexuals.”

Should sexual orientation be grounds for appointing, or in Hormel’s case, denying positions of appointment such as ambassadorships?

Sex does, in some situations, play a role in a person’s ability to perform their appointed duties. President Clinton is a prime example of this predicament, with his alleged inability to keep his hands off interns and other employees.

But all joking aside, how does the homosexuality of an ambassador affect his ability to perform job-related tasks?

There is the possibility that the host country has either religious or moral issues with sexual orientation. However, this is not the case with Luxembourg, as they have publicly supported Hormel’s nomination.

James Hormel is the most qualified and ideal candidate for the job. He was chosen from a pool of more than 100 other nominees for the position because of his personal experiences and his expertise with U.S. and U.N. appointments.

The various Republican senators blocking debate of this nomination are doing the United States no benefit. In fact, they are preventing a talented man from representing all of us on an international level.

Ultimately, the difference between a homosexual and heterosexual individual is their sexual choices.

Therefore, the question is why the Republican senators blocking the nomination feel that James Hormel’s bedroom should be a factor in their decision to appoint him as the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg.

The government should stay out of the bedrooms of citizens and not pass any more laws that govern our conduct there.

Many states have adopted legislation prohibiting discrimination against homosexual job applicants. Is that not what these Republican senators are doing?

The elected officials of our nation are being hypocritical about the laws and legislation that they were elected to maintain and protect.

Politicians, policy makers and other elected officials must learn that homosexuality is a life choice that many of the population are choosing to express openly. They are no longer succumbing to the pressures of selected populations that wish them to keep quiet.

James Hormel is a talented and qualified individual who should be the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. He should be appointed to that position to represent the modern, progressive, and advanced nation of the United States of America.