Openly gay presidential hopeful Fred Karger released his first Iowa advertisement on Monday.

Karger, the activist behind boycotts against big donors to California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, announced he's considering a 2012 presidential bid as an independent Republican in New Orleans during the annual Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) 2010, the most prominent Republican meet up outside of the Republican National Convention.

The spot titled Independence Day stresses the candidate's big tent philosophy.

“I learned from my mentor Ronald Reagan the importance of getting along,” Karger says in the 90-second ad. “And I spent a lifetime working with and supporting Republicans and Democrats.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)

The GOP-adviser-turned-gay-rights-activist-turned-candidate earlier released a 60-second ad in New Hampshire and spent much of the summer stumping in the state.

Karger, who in 2008 founded California Against Hate, a group that led boycotts against major donors to Proposition 8, told Radio Iowa that inclusion in televised debates would represent a “victory.”

“I'm a fighter,” Karger said. “I'm fighting for millions of people around this country who are members of my community and so many others who are deemed second class citizens. We will no longer accept that classification.”

Gay GOP group GOProud has called Karger's candidacy a media stunt.