The Bush administration has chosen an openly gay man, Scott H. Evertz, to lead the White House Office of National AIDS Policy ( ONAP ) . The announcement came April 9, along with other details of how the administration's AIDS activities will be structured.
Rich Tafel, Log Cabin Republicans executive director, called it "an historic appointment" for a Republican President.
"We are absolutely pleased," said Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign. "I think it is a major sign that the administration is committed to fighting this epidemic on a national and global level."
Terje Anderson, executive director of the National Association of People With AIDS, has a "guardedly favorable" reaction to the appointment. He acknowledged that "having an outside perspective can be good." But he is a little concerned that Evertz "does not have much of a policy background … and could have a steep learning curve."
Evertz, 38, was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in its suburbs. He attended Marquette University and stayed in Wisconsin after graduating. He has worked as a fundraiser for the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life, a Catholic AIDS ministry, and most recently the Luther Manor Foundation.
He has been active in Action Wisconsin, a statewide organization protecting the civil rights of gays and lesbians, and the Wisconsin HIV/AIDS Care Coalition.
Evertz has strong political ties in Wisconsin, having worked on the 1986 election campaign of Gov. Tommy Thompson, now Secretary of Health and Human Services, run unsuccessfully for the state assembly in 1994, and served in the unpaid position of president of Wisconsin Log Cabin Republicans.
In the later capacity, last March he issued a press release lambasting the national Log Cabin Republicans for running a radio ad campaign critical of George W. Bush, then campaigning in the Republican primary. That brought a provisionary status for the chapter from the national board of LCR.
Those internal spats were resolved by the Republican convention in the summer. Evertz played a key liaison role in working with Log Cabin and Gov. Thompson, who chaired the platform committee, to reduce antigay aspects of that document.
Evertz was one of the "Austin 12," those gay Republicans who met with Bush in April of last year to discuss issues of concern to the gay community. He also worked with Bush friend Charles Francis to launch the Republican Unity Coalition, a "gay-straight alliance" to work inside that party.
OTHER ACTIONS
The White House said the AIDS office is being reorganized. The principle change is the additional of an employee from the State Department to coordinate international issues.
Evertz also will sit on the domestic policy council, a traditional White House body that coordinates policy among the various government agencies.
Bush said Secretary of State Colin Powell and HHS Secretary Thompson would jointly chair a task force dealing with AIDS. On April 6, the Senate passed a budget resolution offered by Bill Frist ( R-Tenn. ) and Gordon Smith ( R-Ore. ) to nearly double the U.S. AIDS commitment to Africa, to a billion dollars.
A more detailed version of the Bush budget released April 9 calls for spending $688 on AIDS programs run by the Department of Health and Human Services, a 7 percent increase from current levels. The largest portion of that increase would go for research conducted by the National Institutes of Health, particularly large-scale trials of preventative vaccines in Africa and Asia.
Spending on Ryan White AIDS services programs would go up less than the cost of inflation, while the number of people seeking those services is projected to increase. Many AIDS advocates feel the need for more money and will lobby Congress to increase appropriations.
Anderson noted that more than half of all Americans living with HIV infection receive care through Medicare and Medicaid, programs that are not part of the HHS budget. He said changes in the standard of care—such as guidelines on when to start therapy and strategic interruptions of therapy—are evolving so rapidly it is difficult to project what needs will be one to two years from now when these budget funds are being spent.
THE GAY FACTOR
Evertz is the first openly gay or lesbian appointee of the Bush administration, though the White House press office declined to discuss his sexual orientation as a factor in the appointment.
While AIDS disproportionally affects gay men, the three previous directors of ONAP were heterosexual women.
"I'm a little surprised they appointed a gay man to the position," said Anderson. Recent comments from administration sources had led him to believe that would not be the case.
"I believe his selection was based upon his qualifications, not on his sexual orientation, which is exactly how people should be appointed to positions," said Stachelberg. "But it should not be lost on anyone that 46 percent of new HIV infections are in gay men."
The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association was taking a "wait and see" approach. While they welcomed the appointment, executive director Maureen O'Leary questioned how effective Evertz could be "with no additional funds in the President's budget for HIV."
Elizabeth Toledo, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the appointment "an historic, positive step but it is only a first step." She went on to chastise the Bush administration for not adequately increasing funding for AIDS programs.
The Family Research Council said Evertz's appointment "sends the wrong message to the American people." FRC's president Kenneth Connor linked "homosexual sodomy" to the spread of HIV and the need "to deal honestly and openly about the behaviors which are causing the problem."
AIDS "Czars" Past
Kristine Gebbie was the first "AIDS czar." The former secretary of health for the state of Washington was appointed in June 1993 to mixed reviews. She resigned a year after beginning the job, never having gained the political confidence of the White House.
Patricia S. ( Patsy ) Fleming became an interim and then permanent successor. She had a background on Capitol Hill and as an assistant to Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala.
The most successful was Sandra Thurman, who served from April 1997 to the end of the Clinton administration. She had been executive director of AID Atlanta, the principal AIDS services organization in that city, and had strong political ties to the President.
