A doctor tapped by President George Bush for the position of Surgeon General has been attacked by homosexual activist groups for saying homosexual activity is unnatural and unhealthy.
Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr. wrote a paper in 1991 entitled "The Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality" for a United Methodist Church committee that was studying homosexuality. The article was an overview of peer-reviewed scientific studies showing the many diseases and physical damage that frequently accompanies homosexual activity. In the paper Holsinger stated that engaging in homosexuality was physically dangerous as well as unnatural behavior.
Pointing out the naturally complimentary structure of male and female genitalia, Dr. Holsinger said homosexual sex goes against the natural function of the body and can result in serious injury.
"When the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur," Holsinger wrote. "From the perspective of pathology and path physiology, the varied sexual practices of homosexual men have resulted in a diverse and expanded concept of sexually transmitted disease and associated trauma."
Homosexual activists and their supporters have expressed outrage that a doctor who has warned of the physical dangers associated with homosexual activity would be considered for the position of Surgeon General. Holsinger's article has been condemned as a scientifically outdated piece of political ideology expressing a "very narrow view" of homosexuality, according to an ABC News report.
Studies continue to emerge, however, showing the grave health risks of engaging in homosexual activity. A report in the February issue of the International Journal of STD & AIDS found that "HIV-positive men who have sex with men are up to 90 times more likely than the general population to develop anal cancer."
A study released in 2005 in Psychological Reports confirmed earlier findings that homosexual men have on average a 20-year shortened life span. "[U]nder even the most liberal assumptions, gay and bisexual men…are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871," said the authors of the Canadian research team. The team was supportive of the homosexual lifestyle and conducted the study in order to assist health planners with estimating the impact of HIV infection on homosexual men.
President Bush announced his nomination of Dr. Holsinger on May 24, saying that as "America's chief health educator, [Dr. Holsinger] 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."
A professor of preventive medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Holsinger holds a doctorate in anatomy and physiology and an M.D. from Duke University.
