Out In The Mountains : News - Gay Republican Appointed

A pro-life Roman Catholic Republican has become the first openly gay member of the George W. Bush administration, serving as the director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy.

Scott Evertz, a native of the District of Columbia, was one of the gay Republicans – now known as the “Austin 12” – who met with Bush in April 2000. David Greer, another of the 12 and spokesperson for the Republican Unity Coalition, said it was a press release Evertz wrote as president of the Wisconsin Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) in March of 2000 that got him invited to the meeting. In the statement, Evertz blasted the national LCR for running ads attacking Bush when the organization as a whole did not agree on which candidate to support for the Republican nomination. “Gov. Bush knew it was a brave thing for Scott to do,” Greer said. The Wisconsin group nearly lost its charter with the national organization over the incident.

Greer said loyalty may have played a part in Evertz’s appointment, but he is a good fit for many other reasons. “He’s pro-life; he’s worked in faith-based organizations,” he said. He is also, according to Greer, amicable and someone determined to build bridges rather than burn them, as evidenced by the now-mended relationship between Evertz and national LCR director Rich Tafel. “He’s great on gay issues, too,” Greer said.

Evertz has been a vocal and active proponent of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. He worked against anti-gay-marriage legislation in Wisconsin, and spoke out against the Boy Scouts discrimination against gays.

Ronald Johnson, of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City, said through his limited contact with Evertz, he believes he has “a keen understanding of the AIDS issues.” Johnson is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and will, if the Bush administration decides to maintain the panel and his presence on it, would be working with Evertz.

“I think it’s a positive sign in terms of Evertz himself, and that they’re keeping the office at all,” said Johnson. He also praised the position Evertz will hold within the framework of the Bush administration – reporting directly to Margaret La Montagne, Bush’s domestic policy advisor.

Johnson said he was “surprised and pleased by the appointment of an openly gay person to the position.” He praised Evertz’ early comments to the press about the attention needed to the international and minority communities.

Evertz told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel he would dedicate his work as AIDS czar to the friends he has lost to the disease. He said his first priorities are dealing with the complacency that has set in where HIV and AIDS is concerned, addressing the stigma of homosexuality within communities of color that has lead to inadequate education and higher infection rates and encouraging the administration to approach the epidemic on an international level.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is pleased with the announcement, as well. “We applaud the decision as a positive sign from the Bush Administration,” said HRC spokesperson David Smith. He noted Evertz’s close ties to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who will join Evertz, Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Montange on a task force to address the international AIDS crisis. “This is a clear sign that Thompson wants to be directly and personally involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

Most recently a fundraiser for a faith-based program on aging in Milwaukee, Evertz has also worked for a Catholic AIDS ministry and advised then-Governor Tommy Thompson on HIV/AIDS policy.

Both Smith and Johnson are concerned, however, about the contradictory message delivered in the preliminary numbers from Bush’s detailed budget proposal. “They are flat-funding Ryan White and making drastic cuts in programs that provide medical coverage to the uninsured and under-insured,” said Johnson. Smith said his organization will work with Congress through the appropriations process to get the funding levels raised, as they have had to in the past.

The Evertz appointment has effectively ended the Bush’s honeymoon in the eyes of socially conservative groups who were key in his election.

Rightwing leaders say they are angry and so are many of the voters who will be important to the Republican Party in House and Senate races in 2002, according to a report in the Washington Post. Moreover, they’re worried that this could lead to more objectionable appointments.

“This is another case of Republicans trying to ingratiate themselves with natural opponents, and a thumb in the eye of supporters,” Richard Lessner of the Family Research Council (FRC) told the Post. “President Bush may think the Log Cabin Republicans delivered him the election. If that is the case, he is sorely deluded.”

“While the Bush administration may see the Evertz selection as a conciliatory effort towards homosexual activists, it is creating confusion and frustration for millions of pro-family, social conservatives,” Dr. James Dobson said in an FRC statement. “I hope the White House will reconsider the potentially harmful message it is sending Americans regarding the issue of homosexuality.”

“We are very concerned about the fact that he is an activist – that he opposes the Boy Scouts, supports homosexual marriage – all the homosexual agenda,” the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition told the Post. “Evertz’s whole approach is homosexuality is a viable life alternative.” The White House, he said, is the ultimate spot for visibility.

“We don’t want this to become the leak in the dike.” Bush has still not addressed the issue himself, but his spokespeople insist Evertz was chosen because he was the best person for the job and his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the decision.

Openly gay former Wisconsin representative and Bush supporter Steve Gunderson responded to the religious organizations’ objections in an interview with the Post. “We ought to cut to the chase: Is the real reason they are opposed is that they don’t want anyone who is openly gay serving in a Republican administration?”