Washington Blade - December 31, 2004
Lou Chibbaro Jr., lchibbaro@washblade.com.

The dinner is scheduled to take place at a time when Log Cabin Republicans, the nation's largest gay GOP group, is working to mend fences with the Bush administration after the group refused to endorse Bush in the 2004 election.

Log Cabin cited the president's support for a U.S. constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage as its reason for shunning an endorsement. The group endorsed Bush in 2000.

The AIDS Responsibility Project, which Mason formed in 2003, is billing its dinner as a "salute to a second term" and a celebration of "the presidential inauguration and Republican electoral success."

The dinner's celebration of electoral gains by Republicans prompted some AIDS activists to criticize Marsha Martin, executive director of AIDS Action, a national AIDS advocacy group, for signing on as a member of the dinner's host committee. AIDS Action has described itself as a non-partisan group.

The AIDS Action office was closed this week for the Christmas holiday and Martin could not be reached for comment. Earlier this year, Martin said it was important for her group to work with the Republican-controlled Congress and White House as part of its longstanding push for policies helpful to people with AIDS.

The ARP dinner is scheduled for Jan. 20 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in downtown D.C. beginning at 6 p.m., one hour before nine, officially sanctioned Presidential Inaugural Balls are scheduled to begin.

Mason said some of the 150 participants expected to attend the ARP dinner, including Log Cabin members and other gay GOP activists, will likely go to one of the official inaugural balls after the dinner ends at 9 p.m.

Controversial non-profit

The ARP states that its mission as a tax exempt, charitable group is to educate the public and public policy makers on the "unique needs of traditionally underserved HIV/AIDS-affected populations." The group's Web site says it has devoted much of its resources to promoting the Bush administration's global AIDS relief program by building better relationships between officials administering the program in the U.S. and Africa.

Some critics have called the ARP a front group for U.S. pharmaceutical companies, which have provided funding for the group. The ARP, among other things, has sided with pharmaceutical industry positions on some AIDS drug related issues. Mason has said the group has taken these positions because they call for the best means of providing drugs to millions of poor citizens in developing countries.

Among the lead sponsors of the ARP dinner are the U.S. pharmaceutical companies Gilead and Pfizer. An invitation to the dinner says corporate sponsors are required to contribute a minimum of $5,000 to the event.

Mason is a former Log Cabin board member and served as head of the Log Cabin organization of Massachusetts before moving to Los Angles two years ago. The White House named him at that time to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

Mason broke ranks with Log Cabin this year by remaining an enthusiastic Bush supporter, claiming the president supported civil unions, representing an important milestone, even though Bush opposed same-sex marriage. In fact, Bush has not stated outright support for civil unions but has said that he has no objections to states adopting them.

His loyalty to the president could provide him with greater access to the White House and top administration officials than Log Cabin officials, based on the president's past record of declining to meet with gay Republicans who backed his opponent in the 2000 presidential primaries.

The Log Cabin Republicans and the Republican Unity Coalition, the two most prominent national gay Republican groups, held large and highly publicized inaugural related events during the president's first inauguration in 2000, but have chosen not to hold similar events this year.

The RUC emerged as a "gay-straight alliance" of Republican leaders and activists pushing for equality for gay people during Bush's first three years in the White House. But the group, headed by Bush family friend Charles Francis, dropped out of sight during most of the 2004 general election campaign, following Bush's endorsement of a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Log Cabin spokesperson Christopher Barron said Log Cabin is holding two small-scale inaugural related events. One, on Jan. 21, will be a reception at the Log Cabin offices near Dupont Circle for Log Cabin members attending the official Bush inaugural events.

The second, to be held Jan. 22, will be a reception honoring Bob Kabel's election as the nation's first openly gay chairman of a state-level GOP committee.

The ARP dinner will honor four Bush administration officials who have been involved in AIDS related issues: Carol Thompson, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy; Dr. Joe O'Neill, deputy Global AIDS Coordinator; Dr. William Steiger, special assistant for international affairs to the Secretary of Health & Human Services Tommy Thompson; and Adolfo Franco, assistant administrator for Latin American Affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Mason came under criticism by some AIDS activists earlier this year when he become an outspoken opponent of the use of foreign made, generic HIV drugs for the president's global AIDS relief program, which calls for providing millions of dollars in AIDS drugs to poor nations in Africa and the Caribbean basin.

Critics noted that U.S. pharmaceutical companies, which stood to lose contracts to foreign drug manufacturers for supplying drugs to the AIDS relief program, were major donors to the AIDS Responsibility Project.

Mason serves as executive director of the group. According to critics, Mason's dual role as a member of the presidential HIV/AIDS advisory panel and head of a group accepting drug company money created a conflict of interest.

Mason said his objections were based solely on the fact that the generic AIDS drugs had not been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the same position taken by U.S. drug companies. He said citizens of poor nations should receive the same assurances of safety and drug effectiveness that U.S. citizens receive through the FDA approval process.

Supporters of the generic drugs say they have been proven to be safe and effective and would save U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars.

However, news surfaced earlier this month that the World Health Organization - a United Nations entity - removed 18 drugs previously approved from its certification list because of violations in its application process prompted Mason's supporters to say his position had been vindicated. Backers of the generic drugs said WHO's action was based on technical violations of application forms.

But the development was viewed by some in the AIDS community as confirmation that the more stringent FDA approval process should be used for the global AIDS relief program.

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