LOST IN THE MAIL

Gay Conservatives Crash CPAC Despite Official Ban From Organizers

pink-elephant-CPACEven though groups like the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud have been routinely rejected from the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a group is using a room at the right-wing think-tank confab to discuss LGBT rights.

Reports the Washington Post:

A sponsor for the upcoming CPAC gathering, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, will use a room assigned to the free-market conservative think tank to conduct a pro-gay rights panel titled, “A Rainbow on the Right: Growing the Coalition, Bringing Tolerance Out of the Closet.” CEI spokesman Brian McNicoll says via e-mail, “As a sponsor, CEI gets use of a room for two hours.” For the “Rainbow on the Right” panel, McNicoll tells me that Fred Smith, a CEI head, is moderating. Liz Mair, Jonah Goldberg, Margaret Hoover and Jimmy LaSalvia of GOProud are all confirmed.

CEI maintains it was up front about its intentions when it reserved the space:  “We turned in the name and chose it so there could be no doubt what we were trying to do,” explains McNicoll. He says there was “complete radio silence” after the request was made—the session simply appeared on the schedule for the conference, which starts March 14.

Despite the approval, CPAC has once again rejected requests by LGBT groups to have a visible presence or host sessions of their own. On February 15, GOProud director Jimmy LaSalvia tweeted “We got kicked out last year because we are gay. Nothing has changed. We won’t be at #CPAC.”
We could make a joke about not wanting to join a club that wouldn’t have you as a member, but we’re not feeling very funny right now.

 

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