Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 17:10:42 -0400
From: Kevin Ivers <kivers@lcr.org>
Subject: LCR's TAFEL RENEWS CONTRACT

LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE		CONTACT: Kevin Ivers
June 13, 2000                   (202) 347-5306 x12

LCR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RICH TAFEL RENEWS CONTRACT
Will Lead Gay Republican Organization Into Next Administration

(WASHINGTON) After seven years of service since the opening of the 
organization's national office, the executive director of Log Cabin 
Republicans (LCR) has agreed to extend his contract an additional 
year at the request of the LCR Board of Directors.

As a result, Tafel will continue serving as the executive director of 
the nation's largest gay Republican organization into the 107th 
Congress and the next presidential administration.

Tafel will also continue serving as President of the Liberty 
Education Fund (LEF), a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) educational 
organization affiliated with LCR.

"Rich Tafel's visionary leadership for the last decade has taken Log 
Cabin Republicans from obscurity to a household name and a major 
player in national politics," said Robert Stears, Chairman of the LCR 
Board of Directors.  "We are delighted that Rich will be leading the 
organization through the next year, which is certain to be one of the 
most transformative years in the history of gay politics."

"The conservative gay movement has truly come of age, thanks in no 
small part to Rich Tafel's leadership," said Robert Kabel, Chairman 
of the LEF Board of Directors.  "He has not only awakened a national 
political movement that has become a force to be reckoned with, but 
he has helped create a philosophical, moral and spiritual shift in 
our community that has changed the course of our movement for the 
better.  The Liberty Education Fund is grateful to have Rich continue 
at the helm of our educational and policy efforts, aimed at 
empowering more and more gay Americans to stand up for their values 
and be active citizens in their communities."

"With the range of political events on the horizon in this election, 
I'm glad that Rich Tafel will continue leading the Log Cabin 
movement," said Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), a founding member of 
the LCR National Advisory Board.  "Since he came to Washington in 
1993, Rich has been an important and courageous leader in the 
Republican Party, and a force for positive change.  I look forward to 
our continued work together on the important issues facing our 
nation, our community and our Party."

Tafel was elected volunteer president of a national federation of Log 
Cabin Clubs in 1990, and led the Log Cabin movement through the 
historic 1992 elections while serving as Director of Adolescent 
Health Services in the administration of Governor William Weld 
(R-MA).  In 1993, when Log Cabin Republicans was incorporated as a 
501(c)(4) organization, Tafel moved to Washington, opened the first 
Log Cabin national office, and was hired as executive director.  He 
has served longer than any sitting executive director of a major 
national gay political organization.

The Liberty Education Fund was founded in 1995 as an educational and 
policy organization, focusing on civic activism training, policy 
development and educational efforts that build bridges between the 
gay community and conservative Americans.  Under Tafel's leadership, 
LEF will launch a Policy Institute later this year.

####
-- 
Log Cabin Republicans              	Kevin Ivers
(202) 347-5306 phone                	Director of Public Affairs
(202) 347-5224 fax                  	http://www.lcr.org