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William Dannemeyer

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William E. Dannemeyer
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromCalifornia's39thdistrict
In office
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1993
Preceded byCharles E. Wiggins
Succeeded byEd Royce
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly
from the69thdistrict
In office
January 7, 1963 – January 2, 1967
Preceded byCarley V. Porter
Succeeded byKenneth Cory
In office
December 6, 1976 – November 30, 1978
Preceded byJohn Briggs
Succeeded byRoss Johnson
Personal details
Born
William Edwin Dannemeyer

(1929-09-22)September 22, 1929
Long Beach, California
DiedJuly 9, 2019(2019-07-09)(aged 89)
Thousand Palms, California
Political partyDemocratic(before 1968)
Republican(1968–2019)
Spouses
  • Evelyn
    ​
    ​
    (m.1955; died 1999)​
  • ​
    (m.2004)​
Children3
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Battles/warsKorean War

William Edwin Dannemeyer(September 22, 1929 – July 9, 2019) was aconservativeAmerican politician,activist, and author, known for hisopposition to LGBT rights.[1][2]He served asU.S. Representativefrom the39th Congressional DistrictofCaliforniafrom 1979 to 1993, during which time he, along with friend and fellowRepublicanU.S. Rep.Robert K. Dornan,came to personifyOrange Countyconservatism.

Dannemeyer was opposed togay rights,[3]and promotedantisemitic conspiracy theories.[4]After leaving office, Dannemeyer expressed extremeantisemitic views,including a claim that Jews were guilty of a plot to legalize the murder of American Christians, as part of a larger conspiracy to establish aNew World Order.[5][3][6]

Early life[edit]

Dannemeyer was born inLong Beach, California,to German immigrants, Charlotte Ernestine (Knapp) and Henry William Dannemeyer.[7][8]He attended Trinity Lutheran School inLos AngelesandLong Beach Poly High School.AnEagle Scout,Dannemeyer received theDistinguished Eagle Scout Awardfrom theBoy Scouts of America.He enteredSanta Maria Junior Collegein 1947 before transferring toValparaiso UniversityinValparaiso, Indiana.He graduated from "Valpo" in 1950 and earned aJ.D.atHastings College of the Lawof theUniversity of Californiain 1952. From 1952 to 1954 he served in theUnited States Armyin theCounter Intelligence Corpsduring theKorean War.

Early career[edit]

Dannemeyer began practicing law inSanta Barbarain 1955, serving concurrently as aSanta Barbara Countydeputydistrict attorney.He moved toFullertonin 1959 to become the assistant city attorney. He was elected originally as aDemocratto theCalifornia State Assemblyin 1962 and was re-elected in 1964 when he was also a member of theElectoral College,casting his vote forLyndon Johnsonin the1964 United States presidential election.

Instead of seeking re-election to the Assembly in 1966, he made a failed bid for a seat in theCalifornia State Senate.He then became a judge pro tempore of the municipal and superior courts from 1966–1976. In 1968, he appeared on a television show hosted by fellow future CongressmanBob Dornanto announce that he was leaving theDemocratic Partyto become aRepublican.He would win election to the Assembly for a final term in 1976 as a Republican.[3]

Congress[edit]

In November 1978, Dannemeyer was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives, and returned for six additional terms. He accumulated a strongly conservative record on theBudget,Judiciary,andEnergy and CommerceCommittees, supporting legislation to suppressillegal immigration,[9]restricttelephone sex lines,and criminalizeflag desecration.

He attempted to block federal funding ofevolution-related exhibits at theSmithsonian Institutionin 1982, and pushed for easing theseparation of church and state.On fiscal issues, he advocated budget cuts for social programs, renegotiation of thenational debt,tax reduction, and deregulation. He was the lead Republican sponsor of the 1985 deregulation ofnatural gasprices. In 1989, he was one of the successfulHouse managersin theimpeachment trialof then-JudgeWalter Nixonfor committingperjuryin front of agrand jury.In 1990 he was one of twenty representatives to vote against theAmericans with Disabilities Act.[10]

Dannemeyer was an outspoken critic ofLGBT rights,and on June 29, 1989, read a graphic description ofgay sexinto theCongressional Recordtitled "What Homosexuals Do".[11]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 contain the spread ofAIDSduring the 1980s, such as banningHIV-positive immigrants. He was the only prominent politician to support theLaRouche movement'sProposition 64in 1986.[12]Another California ballot initiative he backed, Proposition 102, would have mandated widespread testing, tracing of sexual partners by state authorities, and a mandatoryquarantineof persons with AIDS. It failed by a considerable margin. He did succeed in pushing hospitals to notify post-1977 recipients ofblood transfusionsthat they were at risk. In 1989 he publishedShadow in the Land: Homosexuality in America,attacking thegay rightsmovement. In 1985, Dannemeyer advocated barring persons with AIDS from working in the healthcare industry, stating that there was already "a requirement that nurses who are AIDS victims not work in maternity [wards] because a person with AIDS emits a spore that has been known to cause birth defects."[13]That stated, by 1994, he was open to the AIDS dissent movement and the views of UC Berkeley ProfessorPeter Duesbergand called for a full-scale Congressional investigation into the HIV = AIDS hypothesis.[14]

In 1992, Dannemeyer did not run for reelection to the United States House of Representatives. Instead, he ran for the Republican nomination forU.S. Senator,[15]but lost to fellowOrange CountyRepublicanJohn F. Seymour.

Post-Congressional activities[edit]

In 1994, Dannemeyer ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator, but lost toMichael Huffington.After leaving public office, he remained a harsh critic of theClinton administration.During his 1994 campaign for the Senate, Dannemeyer was an early proponent of theClinton body count conspiracy theory,and sent an alleged list of victims to congressional leadership.[16]

In September 2006, Dannemeyer sent a letter to the California Attorney General and other officials arguing thatLaci Petersonhad been killed by members of aSatanic cult,not byScott Peterson.[17][18]

Dannemeyer expressed stronglyantisemiticviews. On his website, Dannemeyer claimed that it was legal to kill Christians in the United States as part of a Jewish plot to control the world. He wrote, "The main goal of theZionistJews and theirNew World Orderis exactly the same as it was when Jesus was on earth –to exterminate Christ– and His followers! "[5]He claimed that Congress passed such a law under the guise of honoring a prominent Hasidic rabbi while he was in office. Dannemeyer's son Bruce insisted that his father was not an anti-Semite, as the anti-Jewish sentiments in question were the result of the influence of his father's second wife, Lorraine Day, a knownHolocaust denier.Bruce Dannemeyer commented, "He had to agree with it or there would have been hell to pay in the household."[3]The younger Dannemeyer also stated that his father's views on homosexuality originated in his religious upbringing, stating, "He had a great heart and love for people. He said some things that offended a great number of people, but he would not back down from a fight."[19]

William Dannemeyer was honorary national chairman of Citizens For a Better America.[20]

Personal life[edit]

William and Evelyn Dannemeyer married in August 1955 and had three children. Evelyn died of cancer on July 31, 1999.[21]Dannemeyer marriedLorraine Dayin 2004.[3]

Dannemeyer died on July 9, 2019, at the age of 89 inThousand Palms, California.He had suffered fromdementiain his later years.[3][19]

References[edit]

  1. ^Laris, Michael (Apr 8, 2002). "Anti-Tax In Loudoun, Anti-Gay Everywhere; Local Supervisor Leads National Lobbying Effort".The Washington Post.p. 01.
  2. ^Hines, Cragg(January 31, 1996). "Religious right's support critical in Iowa caucuses".Houston Chronicle.p. 1.
  3. ^abcdefMouchard, Andre; Staggs, Brooke (July 9, 2019)."Obit: Rep. William Dannemeyer, a face of Orange County conservatism in the age of Reagan".Orange County Register.Archivedfrom the original on July 10, 2019.
  4. ^Smith, Harrison (July 12, 2019)."William Dannemeyer, California conservative and anti-gay crusader, dies at 89".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on July 13, 2019.RetrievedMay 8,2023.
  5. ^abDannemeyer, Bill."Now the government can legally kill Christians".Archived fromthe originalon January 11, 2017.
  6. ^Vassar, Alex."Bill Dannemeyer".JoinCalifornia Election Archive.
  7. ^Lindgren, Kristina (July 6, 1986)."Enter on Stage Right: Crusader Dannemeyer, Defender of His Faith".Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^"Lutheran Politicians in California".PoliticalGraveyard.com.
  9. ^"Biography of Former U.S. Congressman Willian Dannemeyer".Archived fromthe originalon April 8, 2005.
  10. ^"Final Vote Results for Roll Call 123: Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990".U.S. House of Representatives. May 22, 1990.
  11. ^William Edwin Dannemeyer (CA). "Homosexuality."Congressional Record135 (1989) pp. 13950-13953. (Text from:Congressional Record (Bound Edition);https://www.congress.gov/101/crecb/1989/06/29/GPO-CRECB-1989-pt10-4-1.pdf,Accessed: December 7, 2023
  12. ^Stewart, Robert W. (May 15, 1989). "Dannemeyer's AIDS Views Have Moderated Somewhat".Los Angeles Times.p. 3.
  13. ^Love, Keith (10 December 1985)."GOP Rep. Dannemeyer Focuses on Family, Enters Senate Race".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved20 December2022.
  14. ^Ellison, Bryan (1994).Why we Will Never Win the War on AIDS.El Cerrito: Inside Story Publications. p. Rear Cover.ISBN0964647508.
  15. ^Reinhold, Robert (March 15, 1992)."California Republicans Ready for Civil War".The New York Times.
  16. ^Matthews, Dylan (2019-08-10)."The conspiracy theories about the Clintons and Jeffrey Epstein's death, explained".Vox.Retrieved2024-03-08.
  17. ^Dannemeyer, Bill (September 20, 2006)."Letter to Attorney General Bill Lockyer".Archived fromthe originalon February 1, 2017.
  18. ^Matier, Phillip; Ross, Andrew (October 23, 2006)."Daly at risk of losing seat, new polls say".San Francisco Chronicle.RetrievedSeptember 15,2018.
  19. ^abRoberts, Sam (July 16, 2019)."William Dannemeyer, California Archconservative, Dies at 89".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on July 16, 2019.RetrievedMay 8,2023.
  20. ^Citizens For A Better America
  21. ^Tran, Tini (August 4, 1999)."Evelyn Dannemeyer, Wife of Ex-Congressman, Dies".Los Angeles Times.

External links[edit]

California Assembly
Preceded by California State Assemblyman, 69th District
1963–1967 		Succeeded by
Preceded by California State Assemblyman, 69th District
1976–1978 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromCalifornia's 39th congressional district
1979-1993 		Succeeded by
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