We last saw Dr. James Holsinger, President Bush's surgeon general appointee, at his Senate confirmation hearings, forswearing decades of religiously-motivated homophobia and ignorance about HIV/AIDS. He claimed that he had evolved into a more tolerant individual and doctor. Today the United Methodist News Service released a press release announcing that Holsinger, the president of the national United Methodist Judicial Council, won't be attending this week's Council meeting, in which the body will discuss the fate of a pastor who underwent a female-to-male sex change. As recently as 2000, Holsinger voted alongside the Judicial Council to deny church membership to a gay man and prevent a lesbian from becoming a minister. According to the press release, Holsinger decided his presence and the controversy over his views would distract the Judicial Council from its work. But really -- wouldn't this meeting have been a perfect opportunity for the good doctor to prove he's no longer bigoted against queer people? I guess he'd rather leave the senators guessing. --Dana Goldstein
