HIV/AIDS Policies and Research

President Bush has said that international efforts to fight HIV/AIDS should be concentrated on “programs that work, proven best practices.”[1] At home, however, the Administration has obstructed the development of science-based policies and research on HIV/AIDS among the gay population.

In January 2003, President Bush appointed marketing consultant Jerry Thacker to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Mr. Thacker has described homosexuality as a “deathstyle” and referred to AIDS as “the gay plague.”[2] Mr. Thacker has also promoted “reparative therapy,” a process by which homosexuals are “reformed” through religion.[3] According to the American Psychological Association, such therapy lacks an evidence base and attracts patients because of social pressure and ignorance.[4] Shortly after the appointment was made public, Mr. Thacker withdrew his name from consideration for the Council.[5]

At NIH, officials have told scientists who study HIV and AIDS to prepare for political interference with their research. In May 2003, the New York Times reported that HHS may be applying “unusual scrutiny” to grants that used key words such as “men who sleep with men,” “gay,” and “homosexual.”[6] Experts responded that such scrutiny can only undermine effective science to combat AIDS. Dr. Alfred Sommer, dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, commented, “If people feel intimidated and start clouding the language they use, then your mind starts to get cloudy and the science gets cloudy.”[7]

[1] White House, Remarks by the President during Announcement of Proposal for Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis (May 11, 2001).

[2] AIDS Panel Choice Wrote of a ‘Gay Plague’; Views of White House Commission Nominee Draw Criticism, Washington Post (Jan. 23, 2003).

[3] Gays Shocked at Bush Choice for AIDS Panel, San Francisco Chronicle (Jan. 23, 2003).

[4] American Psychological Association, Resolution on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (Aug. 14, 1997) (online at http://www.apa.org/pi/reslgbc.html)

[5] Choice for AIDS Panel Withdraws after Criticism, Washington Post (Jan. 24, 2003).

[6] Certain Words Can Trip up AIDS Grants, Scientists Say, New York Times (Apr. 18, 2003).

[7] Id.