A surgeon general for all the people?

President Bush’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general is University of Kentucky professor and cardiologist Dr. James Holsinger, and he has controversial views about homosexuality. Based on the available record, you can summarize by saying he sees homosexuality as sinful behavior that is primarily a choice.

So, Holsinger’s nomination has sparked an outcry from gay rights groups. Do a Google search on “James Holsinger,” and you’ll get more links and points of view than I could possibly put here.

I’ve had too many gay friends and co-workers over the years to share Holsinger’s viewpoint, and I understand why gays (including the Log Cabin Republicans) are more than a little suspicious of him. Some of his past writings certainly raise bias concerns.

However, there’s a larger question here that deserves more discussion whenever the emotional subject of homosexuality comes up: Is it possible to have beliefs such as Holsinger’s while treating gays with fairness and openness? I know people who fit that description, and many of Holsinger’s colleagues say that describes him as well.

Some examples from Holsinger’s record: He voted against the ordination of a lesbian minister in the Methodist church but rebuffed pressure from state senators to not hold a session on lesbian health issues at a UK conference in 2002. (And he reportedly supports stem-cell research, which would put him at odds with Bush.) As secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, he provided leadership on subjects such as tobacco use and obesity in a state that desperately needs to get healthier.

U.S. Senate hearings on his nomination haven’t been scheduled, and Holsinger is refusing to speak publicly, which doesn’t help anyone size him up. Surely the Bush administration knew that such a nominee would be polarizing, and already there are plenty of politicians, including the presidential candidates, taking predictable stands.

I hope Holsinger gets what any nominee and the American people deserve -- a tough-but-fair confirmation hearing to determine his fitness to be the nation’s top doctor. Instead, we’ll probably get another political circus.