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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Christian activist chosen by the White House for a presidential AIDS advisory panel is withdrawing his name under pressure after characterizing the disease as the ``gay plague,'' along with other anti-homosexual statements.
The administration had chosen Jerry Thacker to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS. He was to be sworn in along with other new commission members next week by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.
On Thursday, however, Thacker was sending a letter signaling that he would not accept the appointment, administration officials said.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, while neither confirming nor denying the withdrawal, issued a stern rebuke of Thacker's statements.
Hey, we win again.
(sent in by the Liquid List.) (Link fixed)