don't let huckabee get away with it!

this is from an email sent to me from joe solomonese from the human rights campaign fund

visit www.hrc.org for more info

Should a leading presidential candidate get away with ignoring the facts and going back on his word? Not on our watch.

Last month, Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee stood by his absurd 1992 comments that AIDS patients should have been "isolated" (it was common knowledge in 1992 that AIDS couldn't be spread by casual contact).

After a public outcry erupted, he agreed to meet with the mother of Ryan White, who died of AIDS in 1990. Now, more than a MONTH later, Huckabee is blatantly ignoring Ryan's mother, along with HRC and The AIDS Institute.

If we back down, he gets off scot-free. Make sure Huckabee knows Americans won't accept empty promises - tell him to meet with Ryan's mother before Feb. 5th, the most important day of the presidential primary season.

Tell Mike Huckabee he has until "Super Tuesday" to honor his word.

In a 1992 questionnaire, Gov. Huckabee complained, "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population..."

Two years earlier, a courageous young man named Ryan White had succumbed to AIDS. Ryan, a hemophiliac who was barred from school and shunned by the community after being diagnosed at age 13, helped teach the world that AIDS cannot be transmitted through casual contact.

It's hard to believe that 20 years later, we are faced with a presidential candidate who refuses to face both the scientific facts and the human toll of this disease.

The Human Rights Campaign and The AIDS Institute last month offered to facilitate a meeting with Jeanne White-Ginder to discuss the discrimination experienced by her son. Huckabee agreed to meet with her, but despite receiving two lengthy letters, he's been dragging his feet for weeks.

Tell Gov. Huckabee it's time for a frank discussion about the reality of contracting and living with HIV/AIDS.

Ryan White became known to millions as the boy who fought to open hearts and minds while he battled a terrible disease.

We must honor Ryan's memory by holding Gov. Huckabee accountable. We have come too far to be thrust back into an era of irrational fear, ignorance and discrimination.

Thank you for standing with us.

Joe Solomonese

P.S. HRC has been working for months to put GLBT issues at the center of the presidential primaries, from Iowa and New Hampshire to the Nevada and Minnesota primaries, to the battle brewing over a new anti-gay marriage amendment in Florida. Learn more about HRC's comprehensive election strategy.