Former Republican National Committee chairman and Bush 2004 campaign manager Ken Mehlman, who publicly came out as a gay man in 2010, is set to hold a fundraiser next Thursday for the Congressional campaign of another gay Republican, former state Sen. Richard Tisei of Massachusetts.
The Boston Globe reports:
Mehlman, who came out as gay in 2010, has been helping to raise money for Republicans who support gay marriage. Tisei would be the first Republican who has come out as gay before being elected to Congress, if he can beat incumbent Democrat John Tierney in November. That historic possibility has excited Republicans who want to see the party shift to the left on social issues.
“There are a lot of Republicans who want to see the party head in a different direction,” Tisei said in a telephone interview. “You can’t have equality unless you have people on both sides of the aisle who are advocates.”
