Did AIDS Council Nominee Really Call Disease the ‘Gay Plague’?

Greek Orthodox leadership puts kibosh on American independence, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Christianity Today January 1, 2003

Jerry Thacker withdraws from presidential AIDS advisory council after White House criticism“Do not refer to people afflicted with Acquired Immune Disease Syndrome as victims. They are simply people with AIDS or AIDS patients,” says our magazine’s stylebook, Christianity Today Style. But it just might be fair to call Christian AIDS activist Jerry Thacker a victim—not of AIDS (though he has the disease), but of AIDS activism.

Nearly everywhere you look today, Thacker, who had been nominated to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, is being referred to as the man who called AIDS “the gay plague.” Here’s how various papers begin today’s stories:

  • Jerry Thacker, a Christian conservative who has called AIDS the gay plague … (The New York Times)
  • Blasted by controversy over his characterizations of AIDS as a “gay plague,” Christian activist Jerry Thacker … (San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Jerry Thacker, a Christian activist who has described AIDS as the “gay plague” … (The Washington Post)
  • A Christian activist. … [characterized] the disease as the “gay plague.” (Associated Press)
  • A controversial marketing consultant who once called AIDS a “gay plague” (Reuters)
  • The Christian conservative … [who made] earlier references to AIDS as “the gay plague.” (Los Angeles Times)

But The Washington Times actually bothers to quote what Thacker actually said. Yes, he used the term “gay plague.” But it’s clear from the context that he’s condemning those who see AIDS as such. “Before 1986, Jerry Thacker was probably a lot like you,” Thacker’s online biography said.

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. AIDS was something that bad people had to worry about. Not Christians. Not the church. But one Saturday morning in 1986, AIDS came home to the Thackers. … For many years, the Thackers kept their condition secret. HIV was something shameful—God’s judgment on immoral behavior. Who in the church would understand? But slowly, through years of private anguish and exhaustive research, Jerry came to realize that the church had to understand. If AIDS could come home to the Thackers, it could come home to anyone. The vast majority of infected persons don’t even realize they have the virus. Who would minister to them when they got the bad news? Who would counsel broken-hearted parents? Who would reach out to sinners in need of God’s love and grace? Who would warn Christian teens of the very real danger of AIDS? With concerns such as these, Jerry started speaking out on the unspeakable. His books and videos are dispelling the myths about AIDS and helping Christians to think “christianly” about the subject.

The online biography has since been changed, but the damage was already done. “His brand of reactionary gay-bashing has no place in public policy and government,” said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (who is running for president).

“His offensive public statements about homosexuality indicate a disturbing bias that is completely at odds with the role the advisory commission should play,” said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.

“This is like putting a Dixiecrat on the Civil Rights Commission, and you just can’t do that,” said one of the other seven new nominees to the commission. “For a president who I think has been much better on gay issues than people assumed, it sends a bad signal.”

“Those words are as wrong as they are inappropriate. And they are not shared by the President,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleisher. “The views that [Thacker] holds are far, far removed from what the President believes.”

And so Thacker took his name out of the running. “I feel I must withdraw my name from consideration to serve at this time due to my family’s personal concern about my ability to be effective with the council, given the current controversy,” he wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. “I do not consider myself anti-gay. I am, however, anti-HIV/AIDS. The three infected people in our family … would not wish this disease on any other human being.”

So far, one of the only people sticking up for Thacker is Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. He says Thacker “has an extraordinarily powerful, very tragic story, and he has done great outreach on how to prevent AIDS in the conservative and religious communities. That’s what he has taken up as his mission, and that’s important. That community is no different from any other community that needs to be hearing these messages.”

More articles

Education:

InterVarsity:

Archeology:

  • Does the ‘James Ossuary’ bring us closer to Jesus? | Even if the provenance and historicity of the much celebrated James Ossuary could be confirmed as on some level being actually the bone box dedicated for the physical remains of James the brother of Jesus, the religious significance of such a finding has been rather precipitately assumed, than analytically engaged (Margaret M. Mitchell, Sightings)
  • Of biblical dimensions | A newly found tablet that is either a hoax or pivotal corroboration of the existence of the First Temple is pitting geologists against archeologists (The Jerusalem Post)

Music:

Film and television:

Books:

Missions and ministry:

  • Street preacher on mission in Salt Lake | Disliked by many and enjoyed by few, in-your-face, megaphone-wielding street preacher Lonnie Pursifull is not hindered by such reactions in his call to spread—and define—the gospel on the streets of Salt Lake City and beyond (The Deseret News, Salt Lake City)
  • Minnesota Family Council sees a golden opportunity | The new political landscape offers unprecedented hope for the council’s long agenda, its leader said (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
  • IRS has eyes on priest’s ministry | INS seeks removal of certification; fees from poor spent on leaders (The Dallas Morning News)
  • Soldiers of the Lord, spreading the Gospel on stage | Carl and Hollie Ruthberg, majors in the Salvation Army, have a mission to bring wholesome Christian entertainment to their worship space. But they face a huge problem (The New York Times)
  • Christian answers brew at Starbucks | Sebastian Traeger, president of Christianity.com and the speaker at “Resolution: Answering Questions of Faith,” is inviting the public to the second floor of the Capitol Hill Starbucks to discuss whether following Jesus means the end of freedom or fun (The Washington Times)

Persecution and violence:

Clergy sex abuse:

Church and state:

War:

Sexual ethics:

Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen tours England:

Other Anglican stories:

Interfaith relations:

  • Florida churches denounce anti-Islam sign | First Conservative Baptist Church marquee reads: “Jesus Forbade Murder. Matthew 26:52. Muhammad Approved Murder. Surah 8:65.” (Associated Press)
  • Troops of all faiths have a place at the Fort Dix Chapel | Leave it to the Army, a melting pot of many groups, to find a way of bringing diverse faiths together in one place – and do it with military precision (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  • Religions of peace | Jerusalem is the very crucible of God-sponsored violence. If religiously grounded hatred can yield here to shared humility in the presence of the holy one, however defined—then equally profound transformations can happen anywhere. (James Carroll, The Boston Globe)

Other religions:

  • Congo’s unhappy child ‘witches’ | At a church in Kinshasa the children sat glassy eyed and nervous as they waited to be exorcised by the priest (BBC)
  • Values survey finds odd bedfellows | Atheists, Muslims, and Mormons led the list of groups viewed by Americans as the least like themselves in terms of basic beliefs and values (The Washington Post)

Prayer and spirituality:

Environmentalism:

  • Churches go green | Churches, mosques, and synagogues look for ways to make their buildings more energy efficient, both to heed ethical imperatives against waste, and also to save money (The Christian Science Monitor)
  • Land trust explores beliefs about nature | Organizers hope environmental awareness can grow out of the church, as civil rights did (The Bellingham [Wash.] Herald)

Church life:

Science and Health:

  • In God we trust to live healthier and longer | Heathenism is apparently a health hazard, with research pointing to a link between religious conviction and longevity (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Is there a place for ‘scientific’ studies of religion? | I’d like to be counted among those who see a place for a scientific approach toward the study of religion. However, in that context, I think we need to interpret the word “scientific” broadly (Robert Wuthnow, The Chronicle of Higher Education, subscription required)

Politics and law:

  • How one clone leads to another | The failure of the last Congress to enact a ban on human cloning casts grave doubt on our ability to govern the unethical uses of biotechnology, even when it threatens things we hold dear (Leon R. Kass, The New York Times)
  • Alaska rape law flouted, group says | Anti-abortionists say Planned Parenthood nurse was taped urging fake minor to lie (Anchorage Daily News)
  • Pope wants EU to call itself Christian | But diplomatic sources say secular opposition is likely to block his efforts. (UPI)
  • Catholic communion a no-no for Governor-General | With a few narrow exceptions, the church’s practice is to refuse communion to non-Roman Catholics, yet the governor- general’s spokesman, Stewart Wheeler, said she does take communion in Roman Catholic services (The Toronto Star)

Technology:

Other stories of interest:

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