DNC financial honcho will feel the love at Fenway Men's Event

Andrew Tobias has made a name for himself as treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, as a financial guru, and as the author of the classic gay memoir The Best Little Boy in the World.

Last month the annual Women's Dinner Party broke all previous fundraising records and brought in more than $600,000 for Fenway Health. This month Fenway hopes the guys will step up to the plate at the Men's Event. Fenway, which just moved into its new 10-story Boylston Street headquarters, is working to raise $3.6 million to qualify for a matching $1.75 million grant from the Kresge Foundation to help finance the building.

This year's Men's Event takes place April 4 at the Marriott Boston Copley Place, and as with the Women's Dinner, comedian Kate Clinton will serve as master of ceremonies. Congressman Barney Frank will present this year's Congressman Gerry E. Studds Award to Andrew Tobias, treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, financial guru, and author of the classic gay memoir The Best Little Boy in the World. Tobias, a Fenway donor, said he was honored to be given an award named after Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress.

"I'm humbled. And to have it presented by Barney, who has been my hero for 43 years, leaves me practically speechless. Obviously, this whole thing is backwards, as Barney is the bravest, most visible, and most effective gay man in America," wrote Tobias in an interview conducted via e-mail.

Tobias said that after eight years of Republican control of the White House and a Republican Congress up until 2006, he was excited about the potential for progress under President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress.

"[It feels] great, for dozens of reasons. Take just this one: we've finally taken our governmental foot off the brakes on embryonic stem cell research and stomped on the gas pedal instead. That alone may accelerate by two or three years (say) life-saving or Parkinson's-curing breakthroughs," said Tobias. "And those two or three years will undoubtedly make all the difference for some of your readers, maybe even you or me. Like so many of us, I had close friends who missed the AIDS breakthroughs by just a year or two, and others who just made it and are alive and well today."

Tobias said he is hopeful that Obama and the Congress can pass significant LGBT rights initiatives in the first year of his administration, and he said he is heartened by the appointment of openly gay White House staff and by Obama's decision to have the U.S. sign onto a United Nations LGBT rights statement. But he said he also recognizes that some of those initiatives may have to wait until the administration and Congress deal with the economic crisis.

"That said, it will be very much in the LGBT community's interest not to have the world slide into a global depression - our prosperity is at stake just like everybody else's. So I don't really mind the initial focus being on getting that part right," said Tobias.

Asked for any words of wisdom on surviving the financial crisis, the author of New York Times bestselling personal investment books answered, "Spend less than you earn."

To purchase tickets to the Men's Event visit www.fenwayhealth.org.