Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 29th, 2012
Fred Karger has finally concluded that he is not going to win the Presidency this year. Okay, he knew it on the day he filed, but that was never his goal anyway. Fred just wanted a chance to challenge thinking about who can or cannot be gay and who can or cannot be a Republican.
Fred never reached his stated goal of debating the other Republican candidates in a televised debate. But that was because the Party and the media cheated. (And really, isn’t it disgusting that the mainstream media so dismissed him simply because he is gay while they got all in an excited gigglefest about other zero-chance candidates. No mainstream news channel called out the organizers when they refused Fred even though he met their stated standards.)
But Fred did do an amazing job of reaching people with his message. His novelty caught the attention of newspapers across the nation and many a teenager for the first time realized that a gay person could run for President. And he also provided that element which called out people on their BS. From the minor local Party people who had to ask themselves whether they really did have an objection to gay people running for office and, if so, what it was exactly to the raging homophobes who exposed themselves as such and now will soon experience the outcome of public hatred.
But Fred’s campaign – more of a gay PR campaign than a political one – is over.
LAGUNA BEACH, CA – “After 2 ½ years of campaigning as a candidate for President of the United States I am officially ending my historic campaign today June 29, 2012. It’s been one hell of a ride, and I want to thank the thousands of people across this country who volunteered, contributed, opened their homes, came to our events and cheered me on. Special thanks to the thousands more who shared their stories with me in person, via email, facebook, twitter, etc. Every one of you kept me going.
It’s been the experience of a lifetime. I’ve made many new friends and undoubtedly picked up a few more detractors. I hope and trust that my discussion of the key issues helped to open dialog on fixing the economy, balancing the federal budget, creating jobs, education reform, the environment, immigration reform, ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and fighting for full equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. We must move forward on these issues and many more.
A big thank you goes out to our incredible campaign team, most of whom have been around for nearly the entire 2 ½ years. Your dedication, spirit and great ideas made all the difference.
I plan to rest up for awhile and then I will be back at it to help in the fight for LGBT equality. We will let you know as soon as our exact course is determined.
Here at BTB we have a soft spot for Fred. Maybe it’s because when I met him, his first words were, “I was on the Turtle Box today looking up something on Uganda.” Maybe it’s because when you are on the ballot, the media can’t refuse to run advertisements like this one.
Or maybe it’s because he really is a charming dorky gay nerd who reached the highest levels of political involvement (he was a Presidential advisor) and was willing to spend a big chunk of his own money to try and help out kids out there in the red states who desperately need to know that they can grow up to be anything they want to be, including charming dorky gay nerd Presidents.
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JohnAGJ
June 29th, 2012
Drat. I was considering writing his name in this November since I refuse to vote for Obama-Romney. Guess it’ll be Gary Johnson then…
Ben In Oakland
June 29th, 2012
FRed Karger is the opposite of the closet. We would do well to follow his example.
Pomo
June 29th, 2012
I imagine his name will go down in the (gay) history books. He did alot for LGBT people by running his campaign as he did. Best of luck to him!
Mark F.
June 29th, 2012
Good luck, Fred. But Gary Johnson is a good “protest vote” if you can’t stomach Obama.
Neon Genesis
June 30th, 2012
I’m still voting Democrat this year but Fred Karger would be the only Republican I would ever consider voting for if I wasn’t going to. Would he have greater chances of making it into a televised debate if he ran as a Democrat next time?
David R.
June 30th, 2012
An interesting footnote to the Karger campaign and an illustration of the complexities at the frontier of our quest for equal rights can be found in a joint press release from Equality Utah and Utah Pride from June 25, 2012 regarding the Karger campaign and LDS families with LGBT children.
http://goo.gl/kHD4m
Reed Boyer
June 30th, 2012
God bless Fred Karger, who I will always respect for his equally-noble and ultimately quixotic effort to keep Laguna Beach’s Boom Boom Room from closing.
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