Liebman, Marvin

American public relations consultant.

Liebman was a public relations consultant and conservative lobbyist who came out publicly in a letter printed in The national review.

Marvin Liebman (1923-1997), a native of Brooklyn, New York, was a conservative strategist and fund raiser for the Republican Party and anti-Communist organizations who came out as gay in 1990.

In an open letter to long-time friend William F. Buckley, published in the National Review, Liebman denounced the rampant homophobia in conservative Republican circles. From that point on he devoted his energies to gay activism, becoming the founding chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans, and writing for the gay press. In 1992 he published his memoir, Coming Out Conservative.

Biographical note

Marvin Liebman, born in New York City on 21 July 1923, was a public relations consultant and conservative lobbyist. His firm Marvin Liebman Associates, Inc. (1957-1968) provided organizational, fundraising and public relations expertise to the anti-communist and conservative movements in the U.S. and abroad. Its extensive list of clients includes: the Committee of One Million, Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals, the American Emergency Committee for Tibetan Refugees, the American-Asian Educational Exchange, the American African Affairs Association, and the American Committee for Aid to Katanga Freedom Fighters.

From 1969 to 1975, Liebman was Managing Director of Sedgemoor Productions in London. During this period, he produced or co-produced nine West-End productions, an equal number of touring or out-of-town productions, two television films, and three feature films.

In 1975, Liebman returned to the U.S. to organize Marvin Liebman Inc., a firm with the same mission as his earlier Marvin Liebman Associates. Among the notable clients were: the Friends of Free China, the Friends of Jim Buckley, the Committee of Single Taxpayers, the American-Chilean Council, the Ad Hoc Citizens Legal Defense Fund for the FBI, Firing Line, and Covenant House.

With the Reagan victory in 1981, Liebman went to Washington, D.C. He was Consultant to the Office of Policy and Planning for Action from June through October 1981, Consultant to the Office of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Education from October 1981 to February 1982, and Director of the Office of Public Affairs and Director of Special Projects for the National Endowment of the Arts from February 1982 to July 1987. He served as Director of Special Projects and Acting Director for the Office of Public Affairs at the National Endowment for the Arts.

In July 1990, Liebman came out in a letter published in The National Review and in an interview published in The Advocate . His autobiography, Coming Out Conservative was published in 1992. He died on March 31, 1997.

Historical Note

Marvin Liebman Associates, Inc., founded in 1958 by Marvin Liebman, was a New York Public relations firm engaged in lobbying for conservative and/or anti-communist organizations in the United States and abroad. Its services for clients included promoting public meetings, organizing sponsoring committees of distinguished citizens, compiling mailing lists, administering mail campaigns, publishing press releases, and effecting publicity. Its offices also served as headquarters for some organizations. The firm discontinued operations in 1969.

Clients of particular importance were the American African Affairs Association, American Afro-Asian Educational Exchange, American Committee for Aid to Katanga Freedom Fighters, American Conservative Union, American Emergency Committee on the Panama Canal, Assembly of Captive European Nations, William F. Buckley, Jr. for Mayor, Committee for the Monroe Doctrine, Committee of one million, Draft Goldwater Movement, National Committee Against the Treaty of Moscow, National Committee for Justice for Dodd, Tshombe Emergency Committee, World Congress for Freedom, and Young Americans for Freedom.

Marvin Liebman (1923-1997), a native of Brooklyn, New York, was a conservative strategist and fund raiser for the Republican Party and anti-Communist organizations who came out as gay in 1990. He worked for the presidential campaigns of Sen. Barry Goldwater (1964) and Ronald Reagan (1980), and served in the Reagan and Clinton administrations until his retirement in 1994. He was a founder of The National Review, the Young Americans for Freedom and the American Conservative Union.

In 1990, in an open letter to long-time friend William F. Buckley, published in the National Review, Liebman denounced the rampant homophobia in conservative Republican circles. From that point on he devoted his energies to gay activism, becoming the founding chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans, and writing for the gay press. In 1992 he published his memoir, Coming Out Conservative .

Liebman died of heart disease on March 31, 1997 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 73.