The Sopping Administration

It appears that whenever the President has an appointee to name, he goes one of two routes:

1. A sop to the industry the appointee is going to ostensibly oversee, by nominating someone who supports their views or considers the regulation s/he is asked to support to be excessive and in need of “reform” (read “reduction”).
2. A sop to the social conservative right, by nominating someone who wears their religion on their sleeve, when not wielding it as a baseball bat against those who feel differently.

The most recent case of the latter is Bush’s nominee as Surgeon General.  While there are a lot of things the SG does other than deal with the gay community, the role that the SG plays in things like AIDS prevention and similar topics that touch on the gay community makes it appalling that Bush would nominate someone like James Holsinger, who may have some chops as a health care administrator (and crusader against smoking and obesity), but whose pseudo-scientific stance against gays has to set a few alarms going.

“Dr. Holsinger has a record that is unworthy of America’s doctor,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “His writings suggest a scientific view rooted in anti-gay beliefs that are incompatible with the job of serving the medical health of all Americans. It is essential that America’s top doctor value sound science over anti-gay ideology.”

In a document titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality,” Holsinger opined, in his capacity as a physician, that biology and anatomy precluded considering gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality in his denomination. The opinion very clearly states that this is his scientific view, stating that theological views are separate.  

Additionally, Holsinger and his wife were founders of Hope Springs Community Church which, according to the church’s pastor, ministers to people who no longer wish to be gay or lesbian. The pastor, the Rev. David Calhoun, said that the church has an “ex-gay” ministry. “We see that as an issue not of orientation but a lifestyle,” Calhoun said. “We have people who seek to walk out of that lifestyle.” This type of “ex-gay” conversion therapy has been condemned by almost every major, reputable medical organization — including the American Psychological Association, which issued a condemnation more than 10 years ago. 

“Although the church’s theology isn’t being nominated, this discredited practice purports to be a psychological and medical service, and if Dr. Holsinger is involved in any way, it conflicts with his duty to accept and promote sound science in the interest of public health,” continued Solmonese.

The “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality” paper can be found here. It concludes:

The anatomic and physiologic facts of alimentation and reproduction simply do not change based on any cultural setting. In fact, the logical complementarity of the human sexes has been so recognized in our culture that it has entered our vocabulary in the form of naming various pipe fittings either the male fitting or the female fitting depending upon which one interlocks within the other. When the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur as noted above.

Therefore, based on the simplest known anatomy and physiology, when dealing with the  complementarity of the human sexes, one can simply say, Res ipsa loquitur – the thing speaks for itself!

Because it doesn’t work like pipe fittings, homosexuality is unnatural and wrong.  Gee, certainly the person I want to see as the highest medical officer of the land.

Of course, one can consider this a “crazy like a fox” maneuver.  It seems unlikely that, with a slender Democratic majority in the Senate, Holsinger can get through (though if he can, all the better).  But by dragging the Senate into a big “wedge issue” debate, Bush and the GOP can solidify their base in the run-up to the 2008 elections, and get the presidential candidates on both sides on the record in ways that will lock them in or come back to haunt them later.

(via Ginny)