[2] While Dolan was a proponent of family values and the organizations he led were persistently critical of gay rights, he was revealed to have been a closeted homosexual,[3][4][5][6] who frequented gay bars in Washington, D.C.[7] At a Washington fundraising event in 1985, the renowned AIDS activist Larry Kramer reportedly tossed a glass of water in his face.
[11] The following year, he was a candidate for chairman of the College Republican National Committee but lost to Karl Rove.
[citation needed] Dolan was later a co-founder and chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC).
His brother, Anthony R. Dolan, was also a political activist and Ronald Reagan's chief presidential speechwriter.
[13] Dolan was a member of the Council for National Policy Board of Governors, a member of the advisory board for CAUSA International (an educational, anti-communist organization founded by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon),[14][15] and Director of Conservatives Against Liberal Legislation (CALL).