Not only is Bush’s choice for Surgeon General a homophobe; he’s also an idiot. A 1991 paper by the nominee written for the Methodist Church, James W. Holsinger, makes about as infantile an argument against homosexuality as one could imagine. His argument boils down to “the thing speaks for itself!” (really, the exclamation point is original!). His point is that the food/waste system (which includes not just that locus of gay anxiety, the anus, but also, hello!, the mouth) is self-evidently distinct from the sexual/reproductive system—and therefore, self-evidently, the anus should not be used for sex, and doing so self-evidently causes health problems.
Holsinger tries to make his utterly childish argument sound smart by:
(a) quoting “the thing speaks for itself!” first in Latin;
(b) mentioning the cross-cultural acceptance of his argument: “[I]t is clear that even primitive cultures understand the nature of waste elimination, sexual intercourse, and the birth of children. Indeed our own children appear to “intuitively” understand these facts. I think we should note that these simple “scientific facts” are the same in any culture.” (Ed. Note: The use of scare quotes and exclamation points is almost always evidence of a stupid, stupid argument.)
and (c) drawing, as a true sign of erudition, on fields other than the sophisticated medicine that is his focus—specifically, how nuts and bolts fit together just as, self-evidently, male and female genitalia do (though more than one woman would probably disagree with even that assessment): “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.”
There you have it: Holsinger is no rocket scientist. And he shouldn’t be Surgeon General, either. He shows clear signs of not being able to separate his personal beliefs from medical fact. Not only that, but Holsinger eventually resigned from the Methodist Church’s Committee to Study Homosexuality because he thought it was too liberal. He went on to found a church for ex-gays.
Gay rights groups are protesting the nomination, but Holsinger’s supporters are claiming he would never let his religious beliefs interfere with his duties as Surgeon General. Self-evident, don’t you think?
