Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - January 29, 2002
So why has President Bush placed him in charge of making sure AIDS patients get treatment, and vulnerable populations get educated about prevention? Must we assume that Bush is a homophobe too?
Readers have written in to ask for substantiation of the charge of bigotry. Coburn, a former Oklahoma congressman whom Bush appointed to be co-chair of his Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, has provided plenty of it in his career.
Just look at his testimony in the debate over the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which banned gay marriage:
"I come from a district in Oklahoma who has very profound beliefs that homosexuality is wrong. I represent that district. They base that belief on what they believe God says about homosexuality. It is what they believe God says about it. What they believe is, is that homosexuality is immoral, that it is based on perversion, that it is based on lust. It is not to say that the individual is any less valuable than anybody that might believe that, but it is discrimination towards the act, not towards the individuals. That should be something that we stand for, that should be something that we stand on."
Coburn's appointment was a clear slap in the face to the entire gay community, akin to appointing David Duke ambassador to South Africa. With this one appointment, Bush has lain bare his clear disregard for all gays and lesbians.
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