Washington Blade - April 9, 2001
Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Evertz, 38, is a professional fundraiser for nonprofit organizations and has provided fundraising and policy development services to several groups in Wisconsin that have provided housing, treatment, and hospice care for people with AIDS. He has had close political ties to former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, whom Bush appointed earlier this year as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The national Log Cabin organization in Washington, D.C., hailed Evertz's appointment as an important milestone for a Republican president, noting that Evertz becomes the first openly Gay person to head the White House AIDS office, which President Clinton created in 1994.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan said that, in addition to Evertz, the AIDS office will include two professional staff members, one of whom will be detailed from HHS and the other to be detailed from the State Department. He said the office will also have a full-time administrative assistant.

McClellan said Evertz will hold a seat on the White House Domestic Policy Council, which also makes Evertz the first known openly Gay person to serve on that body. The Domestic Policy Council acts as the president's main advisory body on domestic issues. Sandra Thurman, who served as director of Clinton's White House AIDS office, also served on the Domestic Policy Council.

McClellan said the State Department detailee to the AIDS office represents an expansion of the office to include international AIDS issues, including issues relating to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. He said that Bush has also named Thompson and Secretary of State Colin Powell to head an inter-agency AIDS Task Force that Clinton created. McClellan said the task force will also be "expanded" to advise the president on international AIDS issues.

"We applaud the president for this historic appointment, and for upgrading the White House AIDS office to address the global AIDS epidemic," said Rich Tafel, executive director of the national Log Cabin Republicans organization.

"In this appointment, President Bush has reaffirmed his commitment that he will seek out qualified Americans from all walks of life, including Gay and Lesbian Americans, to serve in his administration," Tafel said. "We are especially proud that one of our own will serve in such an important and high-ranking policy position in the Bush administration."

"We see this as a very positive sign," said David Smith, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest Gay political group, which endorsed former Vice President Al Gore over Bush in last year's presidential election.

"We applaud the Bush administration for taking this step," said Smith. "It's a clear signal that Secretary Thompson will take a very active role in the administration's efforts to address AIDS."

Activists in Wisconsin say Evertz has been a visible advocate on behalf of people with HIV and AIDS in the state since 1992. Among other things, activists say he has taken part in lobbying efforts on behalf of AIDS organizations before the state legislature and the governor's office.

Evertz, a Roman Catholic, also worked as a fundraiser for the Wisconsin Right to Life, one of the state's leading advocacy groups opposing of abortion. In addition, he served as a fundraiser for a Catholic AIDS ministry and helped organize a faith-based mission hospital in Kenya.

At the time Bush appointed him to head the White House AIDS office, Evertz had been employed by Common Ground, an ecumenical, faith-based organization in Milwaukee that operates a housing program for people with HIV and AIDS. He has served as president of Log Cabin Wisconsin since 1998.

According to Log Cabin Republicans, Evertz is credited with playing a key role in persuading the Wisconsin legislature to pass a law in 1997 ensuring hospital visitation rights for the partners of Gay patients.

Evertz was among the 12 openly Gay Republicans who met in Austin, Texas, last year with Bush during his campaign for president, marking the first time a GOP presidential candidate who had captured his party's nomination had met with Gays.

Evertz's relationship with the national Log Cabin group became strained last year when Wisconsin Log Cabin leaders criticized the national Log Cabin group for purchasing radio ads criticizing Bush for not taking a strong enough stand on behalf of Gay civil rights. The ads were widely interpreted as an effort by the national Log Cabin group to tilt toward the campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Bush's chief rival for the Republican GOP nomination. The national Log Cabin group endorsed Bush in the general election campaign. Officials of the Wisconsin and national Log Cabin groups insist that any disagreements that surfaced between them during the campaign have been resolved.

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