To the Editor:

Your September 16 issue featured a great article on a Vietnam Veteran and 9/11 Hero who was recently honored (page 4), and the useful “This Week in History” column (page 9) reminded us of the events in Smyrna that began on September 13, 1922.

Either one of these articles was more worthy of placement on the front page than “Perry Halkitis, First Openly Gay Rutgers Dean,” by Zois Marinos.

In this day and age where “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been removed from the military and the LGBTQ Community and is at the forefront of our lives, does anybody really care about the Sexual Orientation of his or her neighbor?

We should be more concerned about the LGBTQ community reaching down into the curriculum of Kindergarten and first grade classes.

There has long been a national campaign to transform the atmosphere of the nation’s schools. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has been busy for 10 years offering help to those educators who want to create what is called a “more affirming” environment for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. The organization has also used part of its $4.3 million budget to promote a reading list for students as young as those in Kindergarten.

The very idea that GLSEN and other groups are busy offering “educational resources” or training programs to elementary school teachers in order to create a more “affirming environment” for such very young childrenis appalling.

Hellenism, Orthodoxy, articles on Greeks having distinguished themselves in the public arena, and issues affecting Greece are the reasons we subscribe to the National Herald. Sexual orientation of fellow Greeks is not one of them.

Pericles J. Vergados

Boston, MA

Pericles Vergados is a combat veteran, U.S. Air Force, who served in Vietnam.