• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays
  • Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role
  • NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

Ken Mehlman, Peter Thiel, and Paul Singer Host Manhattan Fundraiser for Team Challenging Proposition 8

Corey Johnson September 23, 2010

PARTIAL LIST OF ATTENDEES

WALL STREET FIGURES and FIRMS

Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR)
Henry Kravis
Sir Deryck Maughan (former Vice Chairman of Citibank and Salomon Brothers)
Alex Navab
Scott Nuttall
John Pfeffer
Lewis Eisenberg
David Sorkin

Blackstone 
Garrett Moran

Third Point Capital
Daniel Loeb

Carlyle
Jay Sammons

Elliot Management
Paul Singer
Sundar Srinivasan
Dan Senor
Terry Kassel

Evercore Partners 
Charles Myers

Clarium Capital 

Peter Thiel

Goldman Sachs
Todd Malan

Lincoln Park Capital
Mark Cozzi

TPG
Nick Stone

POLITICAL

Former Republican Governor William Weld from Massachusetts
Former Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman from New Jersey
Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff, Obama Advisor and head of Center for American Progress John Podesta
Former Republican National Committee and McCain finance chairman Lew Eisenberg
Former McCain for President Chief Strategist Steve Schmidt
Former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (Democrat)
Former Bush Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner
Chairman of the Manhattan Institute and former Chairman of the Giuliani Presidential campaign Paul Singer
Former Bush White House Communications Director Nicolle Wallace
Former Bush Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Mark Wallace
Former RNC Chairman and Bush Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman
Former Advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton David Gergen

LGBT Community Members

Activist and Author David Mixner
Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation President Jarrett Barrios
Board Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda Frank Selvaggi
Human Rights Campaign New York Marriage Director Brian Ellner
Former Chief of Staff to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and Deputy Campaign Manager to John Kerry for President Steve Elmendorf
Senior Vice President for External Affairs at the Center for American Progress Winnie Stachelberg
Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andy Tobias
Former Clinton White House Advisor Richard Socarides
Academy Award Winning Producer and AFER Board Member Bruce Cohen
Gill Action Fund Executive Director Patrick Guerrero
Gill Action Fund Deputy Executive Director Bill Smith

Guestblogger COREY JOHNSON

Tonight I attended a highly anticipated fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) in New York City at the Mandarin Oriental in the Time Warner Center. The fundraiser was co-chaired by former Republican National Committee Chair/Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts partner Ken Mehlman, Paypal Co-Founder Peter Thiel and Elliott Management hedge fund CEO Paul Singer.

Mehlman The fundraiser was initially supposed to be held at Singer's home but had to be moved to accommodate a crowd of over 120 people. It was announced by Mehlman that more than 1.2 million dollars was raised tonight. The energy in the room was hopeful, enthusiastic and celebratory even in the face of yesterday's setback on Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The crowd was a diverse mix of Wall Street titans, Republican establishment figures, LGBT community advocates and politicos (partial list below after the jump). Barbara Bush, President George W. Bush's daughter attended the event — which was a surprise to people in the room.

Mehlman opened the event by speaking about the importance of achieving marriage equality and explained how he came to be involved with AFER. He acknowledged and thanked people who helped raise money for the fundraiser and also different members of the LGBT community. Mehlman said that this is just the beginning of his involvement and that he regretted that he hadn't gotten to this place sooner.

Said Mehlman: "As someone who regrets very much not being involved, and not being on the right side of this important effort until recently, let me just say this. This will be my first but not my last event and I hope you will stay involved too."

Video, AFTER THE JUMP…

Aferinvite Mehlman introduced Peter Thiel, a gay conservative who is hosting an event for GOProud at his New York home this fall. Thiel was brief and spoke about how marriage equality should not be a partisan issue.

Mehlman then introduced Paul Singer, a titan in finance and former Chair of the Giuliani for President Campaign in 2008. Singer gave a very moving speech about why equality for gay and lesbian people mattered so much to him. He spoke about his openly gay son and his son-in-law and how personal the issue was to him. He received a loud, standing ovation after his remarks.

A video was played that showed all of the media coverage from the very beginning of the Proposition 8 lawsuit, chronicling all of the events leading up to Chief Judge Vaughn Walker's decision declaring Proposition 8 unconsitutional. The video was inspirational and uplifting, serving as a crescendo to the introduction of Ted Olson and Chad Griffin.

AFER_panel CNN's Campbell Brown then came on stage with Olson, one of the lead attorneys' in the case, along with Griffin, the President and Founder of AFER. Brown interviewed Olson and Griffin on topics ranging from how they came to meet each other, what the next steps are in the appeal process, whether or not Olson was optimistic about the outcome and how this case fit into past marriage decisions at the Supreme Court.

Olson's clear and unvarnished optimism was outwardly apparent in all of his remarks and answers to questions from Brown and also from the audience.

OlsonOlson said that he was confident with the case, plaintiffs, witnesses and evidence that opponents of Proposition 8 provided during the trial last January and that he believes that the case will ultimately land at the Supreme Court of the United States with a successful result.

Chad Griffin said this about tonight's fundraiser: "Tonight represented much more than $1.2 million to fight Proposition 8 in the 9th Circuit and the Supreme Court. This unprecedented gathering of bipartisan political leaders and Wall Street titans demonstrates the shift of momentum that's possible when it becomes clear that marriage equality isn't a special interest issue, but rather one of fundamental American values. That has been the focus of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and while there is certainly a tremendous amount of work to be done, it is gratifying to see such progress."

After a difficult and painful day in the United States Senate yesterday, the palpable optimism at the fundraiser was unmistakable and welcome for the attendees.

Watch VIDEO of Mehlman, Thiel, and Singer (apologies, we were only able to grab a partial portion of Singer's speech), AFTER THE JUMP…

Topics: News, Supreme Court More Posts About: Federal Prop 8 Trial, gay marriage, Ken Mehlman, Ken Mehlman, News, Paul Singer, Paul Singer, proposition 8

Related Posts
  • Former Roommate Indicted For Murder Of Florida LGBTQ Activist Jorge Diaz-Johnston, One of the Public Faces In State Fight For Marriage Equality
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Survivor Benefits Payments For Same-Sex Partners Are Being Paid Under Biden, But Many Don’t Even Know They Qualify
  • Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role

    Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role

    Published by New York Daily News We’re always hungering for more Viola Davis. The Oscar winner, 57, is joining the “Hunger Games” prequel as the villainous head game-maker Dr. Volumnia Gaul in “The Ballad of Songbirds …Read More »
  • NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

    NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

    Published by The Spun By Daniel Bates After spending the first two years of his career in Cleveland, Carl Nassib made his name as a member of the Bucs before signing on with the Las Vegas …Read More »
  • Haunted, self-possessed or just spirited: 2022’s Emmy-nominated songs

    Haunted, self-possessed or just spirited: 2022’s Emmy-nominated songs

    Published by DPA Rachel Brosnahan in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel". The show's season 4 song "Maybe Monica" is among this year's Emmy-nominated songs. -/Amazon Prime/dpa The songs nominated for the 2022 Emmy for original music and lyrics …Read More »
  • Kenya Barris to direct Wizard of Oz remake

    Kenya Barris to direct Wizard of Oz remake

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Kenya Barris is to direct a ‘Wizard of Oz’ remake. The ‘Black-ish’ creator has been tapped to write and helm the Warner Bros. reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s book ‘The Wonderful …Read More »
Previous Post: « Watch: Crist Says Florida Will Stop Enforcing Gay Adoption Ban
Next Post: Ted Haggard Defends Accused Anti-Gay Pastor Eddie Long Over Predatory Sex Charges »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Biden signs $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill

    Biden signs $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill

  • Judge schedules Thursday hearing on motion to unseal Trump search warrant materials

    Judge schedules Thursday hearing on motion to unseal Trump search warrant materials

  • Dr. Oz Loses $5 Million Of GOP Campaign Funding In Pennsylvania As His Poll Numbers Continue To Plummet

    Dr. Oz Loses $5 Million Of GOP Campaign Funding In Pennsylvania As His Poll Numbers Continue To Plummet

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y’know

  • Ellen Has Not Contacted Ex-Lover Anne Heche Following Fiery Crash Into LA Home

    Ellen Has Not Contacted Ex-Lover Anne Heche Following Fiery Crash Into LA Home

  • Pete Davidson Proposed to Kim Kardashian Before Their Breakup

    Pete Davidson Proposed to Kim Kardashian Before Their Breakup

  • New bombshell book on Trump reveals he wanted to be treated like Hitler: ‘Totally loyal’

    New bombshell book on Trump reveals he wanted to be treated like Hitler: ‘Totally loyal’

RSS Partner Links

  • OMG, have you heard? J.Lo & Ben Affleck plan to have a 3-day wedding party this weekend
  • OMG, this FB group shares the internet’s most-disgusting vintage recipes
  • OMG, he’s naked: Actor Artur Abe goes full-frontal and rear in the Brazilian short ‘Trato de Levante’
  • Hot Sluts Of The Day!
  • Michelle Branch Filed For Divorce From Patrick Carney
  • Meme Spirited
  • Florence Pugh Confirms That She And Zach Braff Have Broken Up

Most Recent

  • Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays

    Fun With The Familia! Madonna Lets Loose In Italy To Celebrate Her & Son Rocco’s Birthdays

  • Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role

    Viola Davis joins ‘Hunger Games’ prequel in ‘cruel,’ ‘fearsome’ role

  • NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

    NFL World Reacts To The Carl Nassib Signing News

  • Haunted, self-possessed or just spirited: 2022’s Emmy-nominated songs

    Haunted, self-possessed or just spirited: 2022’s Emmy-nominated songs

  • Kenya Barris to direct Wizard of Oz remake

    Kenya Barris to direct Wizard of Oz remake

  • Analysis-Ben & Jerry’s Unilever fight shows risks of ceding control

    Analysis-Ben & Jerry’s Unilever fight shows risks of ceding control

  • Doja Cat says people who don’t like her buzzcut can ‘go f***” themselves’

    Doja Cat says people who don’t like her buzzcut can ‘go f***” themselves’

  • Anne Heche wanted Miley Cyrus to play her in movie about her life

    Anne Heche wanted Miley Cyrus to play her in movie about her life

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in

×