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Conservative withdraws from AIDS panelGay groups criticized selection
From Patty Davis and Beth Lewandowski
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A conservative activist abruptly pulled his name Thursday from consideration for a presidential advisory panel on AIDS, amid criticism over remarks that some criticized as anti-gay. "I feel I must withdraw my name from consideration," Jerry Thacker, a marketing executive, said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. The controversy over Thacker arose over comments he allegedly made at his alma mater, Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian school in South Carolina. During a chapel speech, he referred to AIDS as the "gay plague" and the gay lifestyle as a "deathstyle," according to a summary of his comments that had been on the university Web site, but was recently removed. Thacker said he asked the university to remove the remarks because they had misrepresented his views. "They were not written by me, but were filtered through the summary writer's viewpoint. These also have been used to create impressions that are just not accurate," he wrote Thompson. Regarding his use of the term "gay plague," Thacker said his comments were taken out of context. He added that he does not consider himself "anti-gay." "The term 'gay plague' was in vogue in the mid-1980s when this disease first took its toll on that population," he said. "Obviously, this disease is now found in people of all races, colors, creeds and sexual orientations, so I do not use the term except in describing the historical context." The White House moved quickly to distance itself from the disputed remark. "The president does not share that view," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Thursday. "The president has a totally opposite view. That remark is far removed from what the president believes." Thacker, his wife and his daughter are all infected by the HIV virus. Thacker said he got it from his wife after she had a blood transfusion. His daughter became infected through being breast-fed. The President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS is a 35-member commission scheduled to meet later this month. Thacker was supposed to have been sworn in to the council at that meeting. David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group, told The Associated Press he applauded the news that Thacker would not join the panel, but said Bush administration AIDS policies still fall far short. "While this is a positive development, the underlying problem continues to remain with this administration's approach to HIV and AIDS," Smith said. "Their obsessive focus on abstinence as the solitary mechanism to prevent the transmission of HIV is not based in sound science. They continue to come from an ideological perspective as opposed to a scientific perspective." Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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