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Wednesday, Mar 13, 2013 8:47 PM UTC

GOProud sneaks into CPAC

Though it was snubbed by the conference, the gay Republican group will be on a panel in the same building

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Topics: GOProud, CPAC, Gay Rights, Republicans, Conservatives,

GOProud sneaks into CPAC (Credit: Facebook/CPACNews)

Though the gay Republican group GOProud was once again snubbed by the Conservative Political Action Conference, members of the group will still be in the building, rather ironically holding a panel on how to make the right more tolerant toward gays and lesbians.

From the National Journal:

Sure, they will be holding a panel in the same building at the same time, but they aren’t officially part of CPAC. That’s because CPAC—a yearly gathering of who’s who in the conservative movement—did not invite GOProud to participate. The group is getting the chance to be on site, however, because one of the CPAC hosts, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is sponsoring a panel called “A Rainbow on the Right: Growing the Coalition, Bringing Tolerance Out of the Closet.”

The history of CPAC and GOProud has been fraught with problems. The gay group was invited to participate in the 2010 and 2011 conferences, despite an outcry from plenty of antigay participants. And the reason GOProud did not get an invite this year is disputable. CPAC Chairman Al Cardenas told radio station 630 WMAL that the group just didn’t behave well in the past.

The group’s exclusion from the conference has caused some backlash among conservatives, who want to push the Republican Party to be more inclusive.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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