Terry Dolan (activist)

John Terrence "Terry" Dolan (1950 – December 28, 1986) was an American New Right political activist who was a co-founder and chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC).[1]

Although Dolan was a proponent of family values and the organization he led was persistently critical of gay rights, he was discovered to have been a closeted homosexual[2][3][4] who frequented gay bars in Washington, D.C.[5] He died from complications of AIDS, aged 36.[6]

Dolan was co-founder and chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC).[1] He co-authored Reagan: A President Succeeds with Gregory Fossedal. His brother, Anthony R. Dolan, was also a political activist and Ronald Reagan's chief presidential speechwriter.[7]

A native of Connecticut, Terry Dolan became active in politics during his teens as a Republican volunteer. At age 21, he worked as a paid organizer in Richard Nixon's 1972 presidential re-election campaign.[8] The following year, he was a candidate for chairman of the College Republicans but lost to Karl Rove.[9]

He was a member of the Council for National Policy Board of Governors, a member of the advisory board for CAUSA International (an educational, anti-communist organization founded by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon),[10][11] and Director of Conservatives Against Liberal Legislation (CALL).[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Elizabeth Kastor (1987), The Cautious Closet of the Gay Conservative; In the Life and Death of Terry Dolan, Mirror Images From the Age of AIDS, The Washington Post, 5/11/1987
  2. ^ Gallagher, John; Bull, Chris (1997-05-13), Perfect Enemies, Crown Publishers, ISBN 0517701987, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/perfectenemies.htm, retrieved 2010-05-25 
  3. ^ Rich, Frank (2005-05-15), "Just How Gay is the Right?", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/opinion/15rich.html, retrieved 2007-09-06 
  4. ^ Shilts, Randy (2000), And the Band Played on, St. Martin's Press, p. 407, ISBN 0312241356 
  5. ^ Steve Endean (2006), Bringing Lesbian And Gay Rights Into the Mainstream: Twenty Years of Progress, Haworth Press, ISBN 1560235268, p. 269
  6. ^ Henry, III, William A (1990-01-29), "Forcing Gays Out of the Closet", Time, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969264-1,00.html, retrieved 2007-09-06 .
  7. ^ Dolan, Tony: Files, 1981-1989 – Reagan Library Collections, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/findaid/dolan.htm, retrieved 2007-09-06 .
  8. ^ The New Right Takes Aim, Time magazine, August 20, 1979
  9. ^ Karl Rove: The Strategist, by Dan Balz, Washington Post, July 23, 1999
  10. ^ Michael Isikoff, Church Spends Millions on its Image, The Washington Post, September 17, 1984, page A01
  11. ^ Sun Myung Moon's Followers Recruit Christians to Assist in Battle Against Communism Christianity Today June 15, 1985
  12. ^ John T. (Terry) Dolan, The Council for National Policy: Selected Member Biographies

External links