Posted on 02/07/2003 6:56:20 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Newsweek magazine, owned by the Washington Post Company, recently led an Internet story by saying AIDS had been known as the "gay plague."
"Anatomy of a Plague: An Oral History," by Daniel McGinn, begins this way: "In the earliest days, it was known as the 'gay plague'—a mysterious ailment affecting gay men, mostly in New York and San Francisco."
A new report by the Culture and Family Institute, "Anatomy of a Smear: How 'Gay' Activists, the Media and the White House Shredded Jerry Thacker," uncovers numerous uses of the term "gay plague" by academics, media and activists. For example, a Los Angeles Times obituary of homosexual journalist Randy Shilts had this: "In 1982, Shilts began covering what then was called 'the gay plague.'"
Thacker, a Christian AIDS activist who himself has the HIV virus, was nominated to the presidential AIDS panel on Tuesday, January 22. By Wednesday, everybody from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer had denounced him. Reeling, Thacker quickly resigned to spare President Bush any further controversy.
Mr. Thacker's crime? According to the Washington Post, he had "characterized AIDS as the 'gay plague.'" But he had done no such thing. A biographical sketch on Mr. Thacker's Scepter Institute website carries this: "Before 1986, Jerry Thacker was probably a lot like you. He had a beautiful family, a good church and a rewarding ministry. He knew vaguely about the 'gay plague' known as AIDS, but it seemed a distant threat."
The passage was intended to show that Thacker himself, like many people, had a lot to learn about the disease, a journey that became intensely personal after he contracted HIV from his wife, who had been infected via a blood transfusion during her pregnancy. The couple's daughter, now 19, also has HIV.
On Jan. 23, the Post's front page, above-the-fold headline read: "AIDS Panel Choice Wrote of a 'Gay Plague.'" The lead sentence of the article by Ceci Connolly described Thacker as "a Pennsylvania marketing consultant who has characterized AIDS as the 'gay plague. …'"
It didn't matter that the phrase was used historically, and was in quotes. The Post and other media accused Thacker of using the phrase himself, and painted him as insensitive at best and bigoted at worst.
During the early 1980s, homosexual activists, academics, journalists and medical authorities routinely used the term "gay plague" to refer to the cancers and pneumonia cases that were raging disproportionately among homosexual men. In 1981, the Lancet published a study referencing a Gay Compromise Syndrome. In 1982, The New York Times ran an article referring to the cluster of diseases as Gay Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome (GRID). The disease was later named Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Rather than defend its nominee, the White House shamefully joined the attack on Mr. Thacker. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said of Thacker, "The views that he holds are far, far removed from what the president believes." Perhaps most egregious, Fleischer said the president (unlike Mr. Thacker, who has the AIDS virus) believes that, "people with AIDS need to be treated with care, compassion. …"
"As bad as this is for Mr. Thacker, it is not just about him," said Peter LaBarbera, senior CFI policy analyst and editor of Culture & Family Report. "The real message is that Christians and others who defend traditional sexual morality are branded as unfit for public service. This is a warning shot: You will stay silent about homosexual activism or even support it if you aspire to any public position. Christian leaders cannot stay silent while a lavender curtain of bigotry falls over the nation, courtesy of 'gay' activists, their media supporters, and pro-homosexual forces in the Republican Party."
Even after Thacker stepped down, the "gay plague" charge was repeated. In her Jan. 24 article on the resignation, Post reporter Ceci Connolly led her article this way: "Jerry Thacker, a Christian activist who has described AIDS as the 'gay plague,' withdrew from the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS yesterday amid criticism of his appointment from the White House, congressional Democrats and gay activists."
Later in the article, Connolly noted that Thacker had provided evidence of his use of 'gay plague' in "describing the historical context." In other words, she knew.
On Jan. 28, Connolly told me by telephone that she stood by her work: "I wrote it that way because that was clearly his implication on his website." Asked, "Didn't everyone at first call it the 'gay plague' in the early '80s?" Connolly replied, "Many of the individuals I spoke to would disagree strenuously – I repeat, strenuously – with your assertion that everyone called it the 'gay plague.'"
Asked whether the individuals in question consisted largely of 'gay' activists," Connolly said, "It was medical professionals, commission members, Republicans and Democrats."
Asked again whether it seemed fair to write that Thacker had called AIDS a "gay plague" when he had referred to it historically and in quotes, Connolly said, "We gave some pretty detailed information about it." And she added, "Readers are more than capable of evaluating it themselves." She also noted that Thacker's website had been cleared recently of some of the more controversial terms but that she had seen the original site. When it was suggested that her own use of the term in her article could similarly be misused later to say that she had once called it a "gay plague," she said, "That's a stretch. I would hope someone wouldn't get that impression from reading my articles."
Other media uniformly repeated the "gay plague" smear. The Associated Press on January 23 reported Thacker's withdrawal this way: "A Christian activist chosen by the White House for a presidential AIDS advisory panel is withdrawing his name under pressure after characterizing the disease as the 'gay plague,' along with other anti-homosexual statements."
Homosexual activists did their part. "This individual is an extremist ideologue who persecutes and demeans an entire class of people impacted by this disease," David Smith, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, told the Post. "That type of person has no business advising the president of the United States on how the government should address the epidemic." Republican homosexual activist Carl Schmid denounced not only Thacker but the president's own emphasis on abstinence, calling that approach "idiotic."
On Jan. 23, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman issued a press release welcoming Thacker's departure: "His appointment would have had a divisive effect that would have threatened the critical work of this commission. His stated view that AIDS is a 'gay plague' is both offensive and wrong."
Since "gay plague" is used widely by academics, media and others, Mr. Thacker's historic use of the term presumably should not disqualify him from public service. One must conclude that it is Mr. Thacker's traditional Christian views about homosexuality that are at issue. Mr. Thacker believes that homosexuality is a sin, and a dangerous one at that, as evidenced by the toll exacted by sexually-transmitted diseases such as AIDS.
Mr. Thacker believes people can overcome homosexual desires by receiving Jesus Christ and getting counseling. He believes, like the president, that abstinence education is the best approach to curbing AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, as has been demonstrated in Uganda. He has pledged to put a compassionate face on the Christian response to AIDS without compromising biblical morality.
No wonder he fell victim to the tender mercies of "gay" activists and liberal media.
LOL!!!
Yes, in the U.S. AIDS is a "gay" disease. Anyone who knows that they have AIDS and spreads it should be prosecuted for murder. AIDS testing should be done so everyone will know whether they are about to kill someone else by their actions.
Ewwwwwwwwwwww.. bad choice of words if you ask me.
Just how does THIS work???
By ignoring Scripture?
Or has he repented of his past sins and now speaking against the life he used to lead?
It works by getting a bad blood transfusion. That's how he got GRID (now known as AIDS).
Just how does THIS work???
I believe I read that he got it from his wife, who got it from a blood transfusion.
It was at this dinner that Cleve Jones first heard the technical jargon that would become the stuff of his nightmares in the years ahead - terms like geometric progression and exponential increases. Some scientist had come up with a new name for the syndrome; Gay-Related Immune Defiency, or GRID.
This was in January, 1982. It was also referred to as the "Gay Cancer". The reason was that it was found initially only in gays, and the CDC in Atlanta had fits trying to interview afflicted gays. The number of sexual "contacts" they reported were in the hundreds to even over 2000. Tracking down all those people was a real nightmare for the CDC.
"He who is without sin let him cast the first stone."
Almost every time that Hollywood presents us with the noble AIDS sufferer, it is an implied or outright stated homosexual character. And, it is always treated as if that character has suffered more than any human being on Earth has suffered before.
That's true but in reality how many people with aids can not trace their infection back to a homo. In this case they guy got it from his wife who got it from a transfusion. Was it a homo's blood or just a person who was infection by someone infected by a homo. It's always a very short trip backwards to a gay. Sure it is spilling into heteros but that spill over doesn't go very far because most heteros don't screw as many people.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.