AIDS and gay activists in the US have expressed dismay at the appointment of an evangelical Christian who, it is alleged, calls being gay a "deathstyle" to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS (PACHA).
In a move interpreted as being driven by ideology rather than science, President Bush is reported to have invited Jerry Thacker to join the 35 member PACHA which will next meet on 30-31 January.
Thacker, a marketing consultant from Pennsylvania, is HIV-positive, but his evangelical Christian views have caused alarm amongst many gay rights and HIV activists. His website advertises his availability to speak on specific topics, including "help for homosexuals", a "message on the nature of homosexuality and how Christ can rescue the homosexual."
The views of Thacker on HIV prevention have also caused concern. He is an advocate of the abstinence-only policy currently favoured by the Bush administration which says that sexual abstinence is the only sure way to prevent HIV, and does not mention condoms as an effective way of preventing HIV.
"We find him frightening", said David Smith, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights organisation in the USA, on Thacker’s appointment, adding that it was evidence that the Bush White House "is focusing on ideology not science when it comes to AIDS."
There are six other new appointments to PACHA which are proving less controversial. Including Dan Seed, an HIV-positive gay man, who is executive director of an HIV support group in Dallas which provides services to black gay men.