Fred en route to a campaign rally (from iowas newzliter.blogspot.com)

What Got Our Attention

Our September 2011 issue included an article titled “Republican Presidential Hopefuls and Marriage Equality.” I was surprised to learn of one Republican candidate with a stronger record on LGBT equality than even Democratic incumbent President Obama. I had not heard his name – Fred Karger – before, largely because he has not, as of this writing, been allowed to participate in the Republican presidential debates.

To learn more, I bought Mr. Karger’s ebook FRED WHO? Political Insider to Outsider, which he wrote with Steve Fiffer and published in September (hardcover and paperback due out November 1). It is a memoir setting out to answer the title question, as well as why he is running for president and what he stands for. I was struck by the transparency and authenticity, so rare on the campaign trail, with which Mr. Karger tells of the ups and downs, successes and missteps, of his life.

He tells of his recognition in childhood that he was gay, and his fear of how that would sit – or not – with his “Leave It to Beaver”–style family, and of his life in the closet until coming out to his family when he was 41 and publicly in his late 50s – and the sense of freedom it brought to finally do so. He shares about his work as a political consultant on nine presidential campaigns and countless gubernatorial, state and local ones; and as a social activist, especially over the last few years, fighting California’s Proposition 8, as well as the Mormon Church and the National Organization for Marriage, which, he contends, have used underhanded means to promote Prop 8 and similar legislation in other states. For more on his background, check out the book, as well as his website: www.FredKarger.com. Here, my focus is more current.

By Heidi Mann, Associate Editor

Rev. Heidi Mann serves as Associate Editor, copy-editor, "Someone You MUST Know" feature author, and all around "God send" for 10,000 Couples. She is also a freelancer and owns Final Touch Proofreading and Editing, LLC. Heidi has been something of a wordsmith in various contexts throughout her life, from junior high, when she first started writing poetry; through high school, college, and graduate school, where writing skills came in very handy; and on through 13+ years of ministry as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a role in which she wrote regularly for sermons, newsletters, and correspondence. Heidi lives in the tiny and delightful town of Hendrum, Minn., with her husband, 2 young sons, and 4 mischievous cats.

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