President Bush recently appointed a conservative Baptist minister who advocates a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage to the Presidential Advisory council on HIV/AIDS.Rev. Herbert Lusk, a former Philadelphia Eagles football star and current pastor of Philadelphia's Exodus Baptist Church, was named as one of five new appointees to the presidential AIDS advisory panel, also known as PACHA.
Although Lusk has no background in HIV/AIDS policy, he founded the multi-million dollar faith based social services agency known as People for People. An organisation, that according to the New York Times receives about $10 million a year in government funding.
Critics have said, these federal grants came as a reward for his strong endorsement of President Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
Bush visited Lusk's Philadelphia church twice during the past five years.
LGBT activists have raised concerns regarding Lusk's leadership role as an adviser to the Alliance for Marriage, a conservative religious organisation that lobbies lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Stacy Sobel, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Centre for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, argues “Fundamentalist Christians don't legitimise the lives of gays and lesbians or the lives of people with HIV/AIDS."
from GCN
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