Letter: Lesbians and gays on the march

Sir: In your leading article (27 April), you characterise Sunday's March on Washington for lesbian and gay equality as 'an aggressive step in the wrong direction' that could alienate President Clinton. This is false and misleading. The march was not against Bill Clinton; it was for equal rights. The organisers spent two years planning this march, regardless of who would be in the White House.

I attended the march and saw very little criticism of Mr Clinton. The feeling was that the jury is still out on whether he will deliver. He will be judged less on where he was on Sunday than whether he orders the lifting of the armed forces ban, as promised in July.

I saw no aggression whatsoever, just a million lesbians and gay men and their families and friends quietly claiming what the American Constitution tells them is their birthright: equal rights and an end to discrimination.

Yours sincerely,

ANYA PALMER

Stonewall

London, SW1

27 April