Anti-gay activist shuns Aids body

Gay activists welcome Thacker's decision to stand down

A US marketing consultant who described Aids as the "gay plague" has withdrawn his name from consideration for a government commission on the disease, amid controversy over his remarks.

Jerry Thacker was nominated on Thursday to Presidential George W Bush's advisory panel on HIV and Aids.

I feel I must withdraw my name from consideration to serve at this time due to my and my family's personal concern about my ability to be effective with the council

Jerry Thacker

Friday's announcement came after the White House said that Mr Thacker's comments did not reflect President Bush's own view of the disease.

The president believes "that people with AIDS need to be treated with care, compassion," said a White House representative.

The appointment of the HIV-positive marketing consultant provoked widespread criticism from Aids researchers and activists.

Mr Thacker said he felt he had to withdraw his name for consideration following the controversy because he doubted his "ability to be effective with the council".

In a speech to the conservative Christian Bob Jones University in South Carolina, Mr Thacker had said homosexuality was a "death style" and Christ could "rescue homosexuals".

'Extremist'

Gay rights campaigners have welcomed the news. "He is an ideological extremist and has no business advising the president on any matter," David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign told Reuters news agency.

Thacker alleges HIV is easy to catch

Mr Thacker contracted the Aids virus from his wife who was infected by a blood transfusion.

Their daughter is also HIV positive.

The Thackers kept their disease secret for many years but then decided to start a campaign to make churches more aware of the impact of HIV and Aids.

"He has a very powerful and tragic personal story and an ability to reach out to an audience we couldn't reach in the process," a government health official told the Washington Post newspaper at the time of the appointment.

Dating back to the Reagan era, the 35-member commission also includes a representative of a gay and lesbian advocacy group, a World Bank adviser on Aids and a public health expert.