RICH TAFEL.Party Crasher The founder of the Log Cabin Republicans The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is a federated gay and lesbian political organization in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C. The group consists of gays and lesbians who are supporters of the Republican Party. takes no prisoners in a new book that outlines a passionate vision for Day equality, PLUS: A bonus excerpt ex·cerpt n. A passage or segment taken from a longer work, such as a literary or musical composition, a document, or a film. tr.v. ex·cerpt·ed, ex·cerpt·ing, ex·cerpts 1. Your own politics aside, this summer you should read Rich Tafel's Party Crasher: A Gay Republican Challenges Politics as Usual (Simon and Schuster, $25)--if only because he makes a convincing case that Democrats take lesbians and gays for granted. When you vote in 2000, Tafel's memoir cum political tract will help you do so knowing which party will serve gay and lesbian interests best and why. Tafel is executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, an 11,000-member gay grassroots lobbying organization whose name has seemed eerily apt lately thanks to suggestions that its namesake name·sake n. One that is named after another. [From the phrase for the name's sake.] namesake Noun , Abraham Lincoln, was gay. (That possibility, Tafel notes, might have "explained [Lincoln's] insights into human nature and suffering and certainly would, have made him a better president.") An ordained or·dain tr.v. or·dained, or·dain·ing, or·dains 1. a. To invest with ministerial or priestly authority; confer holy orders on. b. To authorize as a rabbi. 2. Baptist minister turned political activist, Tafel speaks on gay politics around the country and lobbies in Washington for such legislation as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act This article documents a proposed statute that is being considered. Information may change rapidly as the bill progresses. , which he helped to draft. But as savvy as he is on Capitol Hill, many gays and lesbians wonder how Tafel can be gay and a Republican. Is he a masochist? "Gay politics isn't about being liked," Tafel says. "If you're going to be in it, you're going to be uncomfortable. We should bloom where we grow--be wherever we are, whether that's in the Roman Catholic Church Roman Catholic Church, Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. or in the Mormon Church The Mormon Church is a religious body founded in 1830 in Fayette, New York, by Joseph Smith. It is also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS Church. There are 7.7 million Mormons worldwide. or the Midwest or the South or the Republican Party. By coming out where you are, you'll be the most effective person in changing that community." Tafel says he's neither an assimilationist nor a liberationist. His passion is for individual freedom--neither as a carbon copy of a heterosexual nor as a gay victim. "I think things do have to change," he says, "and the Republican Party is the most radical place to be." |
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