Creep of the Week: Dr. James W. Holsinger

Does America need Surgeon General who believes that gays can be "cured" of their gayness?
George W. Bush seems to think so. On May 24 he nominated Dr. James W. Holsinger. to be the next U.S. surgeon general.
"Holsinger is an ideologue whose medical views on gay and lesbian ÔøΩpeople resemble sorcery more than sound science," said Truth Wins ÔøΩOut's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "The last thing America needed ÔøΩwas another deplorable nominee who isn't up to the job, but this is ÔøΩexactly what Bush delivered."ÔøΩÔøΩ
"As America's chief health educator, he will be charged with providing the best scientific information available on how Americans can make smart choices that improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury," Bush said.
He will, eh? Then how does Bush explain Holsinger's role in Hope Springs Community Church, a church he founded with his wife that seeks to help gays "recover" from homosexuality?
"We see that as an issue not of orientation but of lifestyle," Rev. David Calhoun of Hope Springs Community Church told the Lexington Herald-Leader June 1. "We have people who seek to walk out of that lifestyle."
Mind you, anti-gay "conversion therapy" has been declared a bunch of bull by reputable health organizations, most recently the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
Then there's Holsinger's 1991 declaration that gay sex is biologically unnatural and unhealthy. "When the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur," Holsinger wrote in a paper titled "Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality."
"Dr. Holsinger has a track record of anti-gay sentiments," Ronald Johnson, deputy director of AIDS Action told the Lexington Herald-Leader June 6. "We feel that his views on homosexuality will infuse and guide his policies and direction as surgeon general."
"Fears that he would not be fair or compassionate in distributing health care to gay and lesbian individuals is totally unfounded and ludicrous," Calhoun said to the Herald-Leader.
Gosh, I can't imagine what on earth makes gays think such a thing.
Perhaps it was Holsinger's role in decisions by the United Methodist Judicial Council that nixed a lesbian's ability to be an associate pastor and supported another minister who refused to let a gay man join the church.
"Dr. James Holsinger has demonstrated in the past that he harbors religious-based prejudice towards homosexuals," Jamie McDaniel, coordinator of Soulforce Lexington, told the Herald-Leger. "As a gay American, I am deeply concerned over any surgeon general nominee not being healed of such personal prejudice."
To be confirmed Holsinger will have to appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, chaired by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and loaded with Democrats vying for the presidential nomination: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.
"It is clear that James Holsinger is to medicine what Alberto ÔøΩGonzales is to justice," said Besen. "It will be interesting to ÔøΩsee where the presidential candidates stand on this troubling ÔøΩnomination.ÔøΩÔøΩ"