To the Editor:

I am writing this letter in response to the Daily editorial that appeared in the September 15th edition.

It said that the Wilson defeat in last Tuesday’s election was due to the hateful nature of the Des Moines

voting public. Being a Des Moines native, I take offense to that opinion.

First of all, Wilson was not as much in the closet as he maintains.

Many voters in the district were aware of the possibility of his homosexuality. He was still re-elected three times, with many people in the

district pleased with his performance.

This all changed earlier this year, however. First, he was a strong supporter of an extremely unpopular proposal to infuse homosexual education into the school district. This program was full of ideas that parents did not want taught to their children in their schools.

This program was dropped, but people’s opinions of Wilson and other board members had changed.

Secondly, Wilson’s campaign was financed in large part from donations by many gay, lesbian and bisexual groups, most of them out of state. Wilson was no longer a school board candidate, but now a gay school board candidate.

Many voters believed that a candidate whose campaign was supported by various liberal special interest groups was not looking out for the best interests of the school district, but for the interests of the gay populace.

Wilson was now seen by a large majority of Des Moines voters as a person who had succumbed to the special interest. He was now their candidate, and voters believed that a school board member should not be a puppet to special interest groups and political action committees. This is why he was defeated, not because he was gay.

Des Moines may be in many respects a conservative town, but its voters, for the most part, did not hate Wilson for his sexuality nor were they fearful of him.

They were fearful of their children being bombarded with questionable educational ideas, supported by a school board member who was in turn being bought by groups from all over the United States who don’t care about the education of Des Moines children.

Something interesting to note is that this hate that the ISU Daily was talking about didn’t really exist as they say it did.

I don’t remember any crosses being burnt in Mr. Wilson’s yard, or bricks being thrown through the windows of his house.

If the people of Des Moines were so fearful, I’m sure Wilson would have been voted out as a partner of his law firm. If they were so hateful, I’m also sure many attempts would have been made on his life.

The voters came out in full force last Tuesday to send two strong messages. Those messages are: they will not let their children be held hostage to “politically correct” ideas that many view as immoral, nor will they let the money of out-of-state political groups finance their school board members.

Now, I don’t really see how that can be construed as being bigoted or

homophobic.

I guess the Daily in their liberal, infinite wisdom knows better. The voters of Des Moines should not be insulted as being uninformed homophobes. They were informed, and acted maturely throughout the entire election.

The only people to make a big deal of his sexuality were the gay people themselves.

Those who voted against Wilson were not bigots and should not be accused as such just because they were not “politically correct”.

Robert Zeis

Junior

Finance