William E. Dannemeyer
Encyclopedia
William Edwin Dannemeyer (born September 22, 1929) is a conservative American politician
, activist, and author, known for his anti-gay
political position. He is currently honorary national chairman of Citizens for a Better America. He served as U.S. Representative
from the 39th Congressional District
of California
from 1979 to 1993, during which time he, along with friend and fellow Republican
U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan
, came to personify Orange County
conservatism
.
. He attended Trinity Lutheran School in Los Angeles
and Long Beach Poly High School
. Dannemeyer is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
from the Boy Scouts of America
. He entered Santa Maria Junior College in 1947 before transferring to Valparaiso University
in Valparaiso, Indiana
. He graduated from "Valpo" in 1950 and earned a J.D.
at Hastings College of the Law of the University of California
in 1952. From 1952 to 1954 he served in the United States Army
in the Counter Intelligence Corps
during the Korean War
.
He began practicing law in Santa Barbara
in 1955, serving concurrently as a Santa Barbara County
deputy district attorney
. He moved to Fullerton
in 1959 to become the assistant city attorney. He was elected originally as a Democrat
to the California State Assembly
in 1962 and was reelected in 1964; was a municipal and superior court judge pro tempore 1966–1976; and returned to the Assembly for a final term in 1976 as a Republican.
, restrict telephone sex lines
, and illegalize flag desecration
.
He attempted to block federal funding of evolution
-related exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution
in 1982, and pushed for easing the separation of church and state
. On fiscal issues, he advocated budget cuts in social programs, renegotiation of the national debt, tax reduction, and deregulation. He was the lead Republican sponsor of the 1985 deregulation of natural gas
prices. In 1989, he was one of the successful House managers in the impeachment trial of then-Judge Walter Nixon
for committing perjury
in front of a grand jury
. In 1990 he was one of twenty representatives to vote against the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Dannemeyer was an outspoken critic of homosexuality
and on June 29, 1989 read a graphic description of gay sex into the Congressional Record
entitled "What Homosexuals Do." In this statement, Dannemeyer said:
He gained national notoriety with his proposals to stop the emerging AIDS
epidemic in the late 1980s, such as banning HIV
-positive immigrants. He was the only prominent politician to support the LaRouche movement's Proposition 64
in 1986. A California ballot initiative he backed, Proposition 102, would have mandated widespread testing, tracing of sexual partners by state authorities, and a mandatory quarantine
of persons with AIDS. It failed by a considerable margin. He did succeed in pushing hospitals to notify post-1977 recipients of blood transfusion
s that they were at risk. In 1989 he published Shadow in the Land: Homosexuality in America, attacking the gay rights movement. In 1985, Dannemeyer voiced his concern with AIDS, "[People with AIDS] emit spores that have been known to cause birth defects."
In 1992, Dannemeyer did not run for reelection to the House. Instead, he ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator
, but lost to fellow Orange County
Republican John F. Seymour
.
who had died "under other than natural circumstances" and called for hearings on the matter. The list was mostly compiled by Linda Thompson
, an Indianapolis lawyer who in 1993 gave up her year-old general practice to found the American Justice Federation, a for-profit group that promotes pro-gun causes and various conspiracy theories through a shortwave radio program, a computer bulletin board and sales of its newsletter and videos." The list is known as the "Clinton Body Count" and is still maintained on several right-wing or conspiracy-oriented websites http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/clinton.htm.
In 1994, Dannemeyer ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator, but lost to Michael Huffington
. After leaving public office, he remained a harsh critic of the Clinton Administration.
In September 2006, Dannemeyer sent a letter to the California Attorney General and other officials arguing that Laci Peterson
had been killed by members of a satanic cult, not by Scott Peterson
.
Dannemeyer believes that Jews
are trying to take over the world, or according to his website, "The main goal of the Zionist Jews and their New World Order
is exactly the same as it was when Jesus was on earth – to exterminate Christ
– and His followers!" His article is linked to by his wife's website, Lorraine Day
, who openly states that the Holocaust is a plan by Jews
"to destroy all nations, control the entire world, slaughter most of the population of the earth, and reduce the rest to slaves."
.
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
, activist, and author, known for his anti-gay
LGBT rights opposition
LGBT rights opposition refers to active opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights. Organizations influential in LGBT rights opposition frequently challenge judicial rulings, and legislative initiatives, and dispute findings that sexual orientation is an immutable...
political position. He is currently honorary national chairman of Citizens for a Better America. He served as U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from the 39th Congressional District
California's 39th congressional district
California's 39th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district covers part of southeastern Los Angeles County and includes Lynwood, Cerritos, Lakewood, La Mirada, and Whittier....
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from 1979 to 1993, during which time he, along with friend and fellow Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan
Bob Dornan
Robert Kenneth "Bob" Dornan is a Republican and former member of the United States House of Representatives from California and a vocal advocate of pro-life and social conservative causes....
, came to personify Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
conservatism
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
.
Early life
Dannemeyer was born in Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. He attended Trinity Lutheran School in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Long Beach Poly High School
Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a High school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States....
. Dannemeyer is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...
from the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
. He entered Santa Maria Junior College in 1947 before transferring to Valparaiso University
Valparaiso University
Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a regionally accredited private university located in the city of Valparaiso in the U.S. state of Indiana. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, a nursing school and a law school...
in Valparaiso, Indiana
Valparaiso, Indiana
Valparaiso is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 31,730 at the 2010 census, making it the 2nd largest city in Porter County.-History:...
. He graduated from "Valpo" in 1950 and earned a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
at Hastings College of the Law of the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
in 1952. From 1952 to 1954 he served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in the Counter Intelligence Corps
Counter Intelligence Corps
The Counter Intelligence Corps was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and, in 1967, by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
He began practicing law in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
in 1955, serving concurrently as a Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
deputy district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
. He moved to Fullerton
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
in 1959 to become the assistant city attorney. He was elected originally as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
in 1962 and was reelected in 1964; was a municipal and superior court judge pro tempore 1966–1976; and returned to the Assembly for a final term in 1976 as a Republican.
Congress
In November 1978 he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives, and returned for six additional terms. He accumulated a strongly conservative record on the Budget, Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce Committees, supporting legislation to suppress illegal immigrationIllegal immigration to the United States
An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
, restrict telephone sex lines
Premium-rate telephone number
Premium-rate telephone numbers are telephone numbers for telephone calls during which certain services are provided, and for which prices higher than normal are charged. Unlike a normal call, part of the call charge is paid to the service provider, thus enabling businesses to be funded via the calls...
, and illegalize flag desecration
Flag desecration
Flag desecration is a term applied to various acts that intentionally destroy, damage or mutilate a flag in public, most often a national flag. Often, such action is intended to make a political point against a country or its policies...
.
He attempted to block federal funding of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
-related exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in 1982, and pushed for easing the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
. On fiscal issues, he advocated budget cuts in social programs, renegotiation of the national debt, tax reduction, and deregulation. He was the lead Republican sponsor of the 1985 deregulation of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
prices. In 1989, he was one of the successful House managers in the impeachment trial of then-Judge Walter Nixon
Walter Nixon
Walter Louis Nixon, Jr. is a former United States federal judge who was impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office by the Senate....
for committing perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
in front of a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
. In 1990 he was one of twenty representatives to vote against the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Dannemeyer was an outspoken critic of homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and on June 29, 1989 read a graphic description of gay sex into the Congressional Record
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
entitled "What Homosexuals Do." In this statement, Dannemeyer said:
activities peculiar to homosexuality include: Rimming, or one man using his tongue to lick the rectum of another man; golden showers, having one man or men urinate on another man or men; fisting or handballing, which has one man insert his hand and/or part of his arm into another man's rectum; and using what are euphemistically termed 'toys' such as one man inserting dildoes, certain vegetables, or lightbulbs up another man's rectum."
He gained national notoriety with his proposals to stop the emerging AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
epidemic in the late 1980s, such as banning HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive immigrants. He was the only prominent politician to support the LaRouche movement's Proposition 64
California Proposition 64 (1986)
Proposition 64 was a proposition in the state of California on the November 4, 1986 ballot. It was an initiative statute that would have restored Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome to the list of communicable diseases...
in 1986. A California ballot initiative he backed, Proposition 102, would have mandated widespread testing, tracing of sexual partners by state authorities, and a mandatory quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
of persons with AIDS. It failed by a considerable margin. He did succeed in pushing hospitals to notify post-1977 recipients of blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
s that they were at risk. In 1989 he published Shadow in the Land: Homosexuality in America, attacking the gay rights movement. In 1985, Dannemeyer voiced his concern with AIDS, "[People with AIDS] emit spores that have been known to cause birth defects."
In 1992, Dannemeyer did not run for reelection to the House. Instead, he ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, but lost to fellow Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
Republican John F. Seymour
John F. Seymour
John F. Seymour is an American real estate investor and politician.Seymour attended the public schools in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1955 to 1959 and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1962...
.
Post-Congressional activities
In 1994, in a letter to congressional leaders, Dannemeyer listed 24 people with some connection to then-President ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
who had died "under other than natural circumstances" and called for hearings on the matter. The list was mostly compiled by Linda Thompson
Linda Thompson (attorney)
Linda Thompson is an American attorney, filmmaker, and the founder of the American Justice Federation. In 1993, she quit her job as a lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana to start the American Justice Federation, according to Snopes.com...
, an Indianapolis lawyer who in 1993 gave up her year-old general practice to found the American Justice Federation, a for-profit group that promotes pro-gun causes and various conspiracy theories through a shortwave radio program, a computer bulletin board and sales of its newsletter and videos." The list is known as the "Clinton Body Count" and is still maintained on several right-wing or conspiracy-oriented websites http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/clinton.htm.
In 1994, Dannemeyer ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator, but lost to Michael Huffington
Michael Huffington
Michael Huffington is an American politician, bisexual activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for one term, 1993–1995, from California...
. After leaving public office, he remained a harsh critic of the Clinton Administration.
In September 2006, Dannemeyer sent a letter to the California Attorney General and other officials arguing that Laci Peterson
Laci Peterson
Laci Denise Peterson was an American woman who was the subject of a highly discussed murder case after she went missing while seven and a half months pregnant with her first child. Peterson was reportedly last seen alive on December 24, 2002...
had been killed by members of a satanic cult, not by Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
.
Dannemeyer believes that Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
are trying to take over the world, or according to his website, "The main goal of the Zionist Jews and their New World Order
New World Order
New World Order, New world order or The New World Order may refer to:*New world order , any period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power...
is exactly the same as it was when Jesus was on earth – to exterminate Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
– and His followers!" His article is linked to by his wife's website, Lorraine Day
Lorraine Day
Lorraine Jeanette Day M.D. is a practitioner of alternative medicine who claims to have discovered the cause and cure of cancer, as a result of God showing her how to recover from her own cancer with a 10 step plan. According to her theory, all cancers are due to weakness of the immune system...
, who openly states that the Holocaust is a plan by Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
"to destroy all nations, control the entire world, slaughter most of the population of the earth, and reduce the rest to slaves."
Personal life
Dannemeyer's wife Evelyn died of cancer in 1999. They had been married since 1955. He has three children. Dannemeyer is now married to Lorraine DayLorraine Day
Lorraine Jeanette Day M.D. is a practitioner of alternative medicine who claims to have discovered the cause and cure of cancer, as a result of God showing her how to recover from her own cancer with a 10 step plan. According to her theory, all cancers are due to weakness of the immune system...
.
External links
Retrieved on 2008-07-23- TakeBackOurRights.org Dannemeyer's website
- Speech on Sodomy in 1990