THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609300207
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY ANN EGERTON
LENGTH: 76 lines
THE ACCIDENTAL ACTIVIST
A Personal and Political Memoir
CANDACE GINGRICH WITH CHRIS BULL
Scribner. 239 pp. $23.
Speaker of the House Newton Gingrich and his much younger half-sister, gay activist Candace Gingrich, may be light years apart on such issues as gay rights and abortion, as well as in general political philosophy, but they seem similar in temperament and style. In Candace Gingrich's book, The Accidental Activist, both sound hard-charging, aggressive and oh, so certain about the rightness of their divergent positions on issues.
The object of Candace Gingrich's book, co-written with Chris Bull, she says, is to get Americans to become activists on whatever cause is dear to them. We only hear her side of the story, but it seems that her gay activism is politically embarrassing to big brother. The Speaker avoids his youngest sister, and she is wistful for a sense of family to take precedence over politics. This book is also in part Candace's response to her brother's To Renew America, complete with her suggested reading list.
The marriage of Newton and Kitty McPherson ended before their son Newton Jr. was born in 1943. When she married Army enlistee Bob Gingrich in 1945 he adopted the child. They had two daughters and much later, in 1966, Candace. The children were Army brats and lived around the country until Col. Gingrich retired in 1974. Newton and Candace never lived in the same household; the brother and sister, 23 years apart, share few family memories.
Candace had a good relationship with her parents and sisters, was popular in school and enjoyed a fairly sunny childhood, but the only education she received, either at home or school, was heterosexual.
``As usual, the gay kids were left to twist in the wind with their fears,'' she reports in a consciousness-raising chapter.
She realized early on that she was sexually attracted to girls. Two sociology courses at college, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, gave her the courage to accept herself. She ``came out'' and reports that family members, including Newt, reacted with love and support.
She moved in with her first serious girlfriend and played on the women's rugby team, commenting, ``So many of the players were lesbians and were extremely comfortable with who they were . . . without their support and example, my protracted coming out would have been prolonged even further.'' She refers to herself as a ``blue collar left wing rugby dyke.''
After college, Candace worked for United Parcel Service loading boxes and was oblivious to politics. Her brother had expanded his political base to include Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition, and it shocked and hurt her in 1994 that the new Speaker of the House compared homosexuality to alcoholism, and said that homosexuals undermine ``how civilization functions.'' At the same time he observed ``that many of the homosexuals I know personally are good citizens.'' Later, he indicated his support of halting efforts to add sexual discrimination to federal antidiscrimination statutes. (Currently on the books in only nine states and Washington, D.C.) Of his sister's sexual orientation, he commented, ``Hate the sin, love the sinner.''
Newt's statements helped drive Candace to gay-rights activism. She became a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign Fund and now focuses on protesting gay-bashing and employment discrimination protection. She is considering a run for Congress. Her activism, despite the book's title, appears to have been at first personally motivated; now it is a satisfying career and a possible stepping stone to a broader political arena. She has even given up her beloved rugby because of speaking engagements.
Both Newton and Candace Gingrich are complicated, self-absorbed and driven people. Candace's ambition is still taking shape, and she admits to having been jealous of the attention their mother lavished on Newt as his career began. How ironic that his fame has helped provide a soapbox for her cause - a cause that enrages many of his right-wing supporters. MEMO: Ann Egerton is a free-lance writer who lives in Baltimore. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Candace Gingrich, right, was propelled into the spotlight by the
success of her half-brother, Newt, above. by CNB