HIT THE ROAD

Forgotten But Not Gone, GOProud Founders LaSalvia and Barron Jump Ship

LaSalvia-BarronThe cheerleaders for gay Republican conservatives–that faithful band that stands true to the party in the face of every reality showing them the door–are putting down their pom poms. Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron, respectively the executive director and senior strategist for GOProud, are stepping away from day-to-day responsibilities at the organization they founded.

“It’s time. We don’t want it to get stale,” LaSalvia said. Of course, that would assume they were ever fresh.

GOProud did compile an amazing record, if by amazing you mean “jaw-droppingly stupid.” Some highlights:

We could go on, but you get the idea.

GOProud has been dining out on two things for the past several years. Firstly, there really are some conservatives who support gay rights, like Ann Coulter. That doesn’t make them any less douchy, however.

Secondly, and more importantly, GOProud was banned from the CPAC convention for two years in a row. CPAC is the right-wing jamboree, and GOProud’s forced exile got the organization a lot of attention as an example of the homophobia that is rampant in the Republican right. Except GOProud loves the Republican right.

In short, GOProud owes its fame to being thrown out of a party by the group of people who control the party that it loves. Got that?

None of this stopped GOProud from marching in lockstep with many of the party’s nominees. In 2012, GOProud endorsed an impressive array of candidates who had nothing in their voting records to recommend themselves to LGBT voters and in fact were openly antagonistic to gay concerns.

So, farewell to LaSalvia and Barron, although we’re sure they’ll be sticking around. The conservative movement pays its hacks well, so we’re confident the pair will pop up to sanctify some truly  reprehensible types looking to deodorize their track record and look more moderate in elections to come.

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