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 lobbyAugust 26th, 2011
TODAY’S AGENDA:
HRC “On the Road to Equality”: Kansas City, MO. The Human Rights Campaign’s bus tour stops in Kansas City, Missouri for a fundraiser for the LIKE ME Lighthouse project, the proposal to build an LGBT community center in Kansas City. The benefit takes place tonight at Missie B’s, 805 W. 39th St., beginning at 9:00 p.m.
Pride Celebrations This Weekend: Boulder, CO; Charlotte, NC; Cornwall, UK; Foyle, Northern Ireland; Manchester, UK; Myrtle Beach, SC; Ottawa, ON; Toledo, OH and Ventura County, CA.
Also This Weekend: Big Bear Adventure Weekend, Big Bear Lake, CA; SHOUT Film Festival, Birmingham, AL and Taste of Provincetown, MA.
Richard Tafel and Robert Dole: He's just not that into you.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
GOP Presidential Candidate Returns Donation from Log Cabin Republicans: 1995. Richard L. Tafel, president of LCR, received a letter from John A. Moran, the finance director for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bob Dole. The letter read: “Pre our discussion, I am attaching a list of upcoming Dole for President fund-raising events. Senator Dole and I would appreciate any assistance you could give us in turning out your members at each event. I am looking forward to working with you. With all good wishes. Cordially, John.” The letter seemed to vindicate Tafel’s hard work in getting LCR recognized as a valuable partner in electing a Republican to unseat President Bill Clinton. With Dole, Tafel thought he had someone he could work with. Campaign officials were soliciting his support, and he prominently wore a Log Cabin lapel button as he discussed AIDS police with Sen. Dole during a fundraiser.
And so Tafel donated $1,000 to the Dole campaign to support his quest for the Republican nomination. But after a devastating showing at the Iowa Straw Poll — Dole was expected to win handily, but ended up tying with Texas Sen. Phil Gramm — Dole’s frontrunner status in the Republican field looked to be in jeopardy. And so in August, the Dole campaign decided to tack right, hard. And as part of that direction, they publicly returned LCR’s donation. Nelson Warfield, Dole’s spokesman, said they the only reason they accepted the money in the first place was because of “a financial screw up.” Dole himself told ABC News, “I don’t agree with their agenda — I assume that’s why it was returned.” Campaign manager Scott Reed put the donation in a broader context: “We need to be seen as a consistent conservative — and we will be that.” Dole captured the GOP nomination after his hard turn to the right, but he ultimately lost the general election.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:
Christopher Isherwood: 1904. Born in Nortt West England to a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, young Christopher moved around a lot as his father was stationed in various towns around England. But after his father was killed in the First World War, Christopher and his mother and brother settled at Wyberslegh. As Christopher grew to adulthood, his life appeared to have taken on some of the wanderings of his father: He studied at Cambridge, but dropped out in 1925. He studied medicine at King’s College Londing in 1928, but left in 1929 when he followed a friend to Berlin. There, he discovered the thriving gay scene in the Weimar Republic, and Isherwood thrived there. He had done some writing in England, but in Germany he came into contact with several other writers, including E.M.Forster who became his mentor.
Isherwood wrote several novels throughout the 1930’s, including The Memorial
On Valentine’s day at the age of 48, he met nineteen-year-old Don Bachardy, and the two of them began a partnership that lasted until the end of Isherwood’s life. The differences in ages raised quite a few eyebrows among their circle of friends. They had their differences and difficulties, including separations and affairs, but in the end they remained devoted to each other. Their relationship spawned Isherwoods greatest literary triumph, 1964’s A Single Man
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Stephen
August 26th, 2011
I’m not sure I would rate A Single Man quite as highly as that though it is a fine work. I was very bewildered by the extreme fanciness of the movie which completely subverted the intent of the book. I’ve rarely seen such a bad adaptation. For anyone who hasn’t read it I’d recommend the novel. It’s prickly and quite unpleasant in places but it truthful and in the end moving. I’d still rate Berlin Stories as his best and most enduring work.
Timothy Kincaid
August 26th, 2011
The LCR/Dole story is an intersting one. But you left off just as it was getting good.
Tafel didn’t play nice. He ran to the NY Times and their front page article trashed Dole’s integrity. They ran a Sept 2 story on Dole’s contributors noting that the campaign’s explanation for the return didn’t seem to be a consistent policy. And on Sept 6, former Congressman Steve Gunderson issued a letter to Dole:
Are you rejecting support of anyone who happens to be gay? If this is so, do you intend to now reject my support and request those on your staff who happen to be gay to resign?
On Sept 9, Tafel ran an op-ed at the Times (Gay and in the G.O.P.) and finally on Sept 22, Barney Frank wrote a letter to the editor attacking Tafel.
Ultimately LCR got more from that check being returned than it ever could have otherwise.
A national debate over whether gay people could be included in the Republican Party – in the midst of campaign season – was the last thing that the far right wanted. There are no answers to that question that serve their interests.
And it cost Dole dearly. The Party learned an important lesson – the “base” may want you to be publicly hostile to gay people (it validates their own rhetoric) but the voters will see you as nasty and hateful if you do. And it has influenced positioning since.
It’s in Michele Bachmann’s wacky “I’m running for president of the United States” response to gay questions. She doesn’t dare say what she really thinks. It’s in Palin’s “I’ve got gay friends” and it’s even there somewhat in Maggie Gallagher’s angry “Don’t call me a bigot” stance.
Dole, in a New Bow to Right, Returns Gay Group’s Money
DECISIONS ON GIFTS OUTLINED BY DOLE
Gay Congressman From Dole’s Party Brings Fire on Him
Jim Burroway
August 26th, 2011
Thanks. I’ll have to pick up those threads when this date comes back around next year — in the middle of a presidential election year.
Timothy Kincaid
August 29th, 2011
I left off one of the most important of consequences…
On October 18, Dole finally publicly reversed the decision. The LA Times headline says it all:
In Reversal, Dole Calls Return of Gays’ Check a Mistake : Politics: He blames his campaign staff for sending back $1,000 given by Log Cabin Republicans. His ‘flip-flop’ draws criticism from all sides.
Paul
August 29th, 2011
Your story about the love between Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy missed the documentary released in 2007 about their lives together. It was titled “Chris and Don, A Love Story” and was based on Don’s memories. It also showed some of the paintings Don created of Chris.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1138002/
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