Earlier this week, a reader sent me Ben Smith’s Politico post on what he deemed, “The Gay Republican tide“.  I found the blogger’s word choice interesting:

This year’s iconic Conservative Political Action Conference was beset by controversy over the inclusion of a gay Republican group — but that was just the start of gay demands for acceptance in the broader conservative moment, according to an OUT story calculated to inflame social conservatives:

Emphasis added.  Granted Smith may have penned this post in a rush, as we bloggers often do.  That said, as is, his word choice suggests that gay Republicans have adopted a confrontational tone with the GOP.  That may have been true in Log Cabin’s early years, but today, we’re not so much demanding acceptance as finding a welcome.

Yeah, there still remain social conservatives loath to include us in conservative conclaves, but, by and large, we’ve found a welcome.  Conservatives today are more concerned with the size of government than they are with the private lives of individuals — and pretty much have been for the past forty years, only the media do seem to dwell on the presence of religious conservatives in the movement as if said indviduals define it, rather than represent one aspect of it.

As they say… here’s the video.  (From the Blogger’s Lounge a few minutes ago)

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

From CBS News:

 Conservative commentator Ann Coulter brought today’s audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington to its feet in applause after urging the Republican party to include gays – perhaps getting the last word on the place gays have in the conservative movement after a tussle that pitted social conservatives against libertarians at this year’s conference.

 ”The left is trying to co-opt gays,” she said. “They should be on our side.”

 The fight over the Republican party’s acceptance of gay conservatives and gay rights came to a head at CPAC, after organizers invited the gay conservative group GOProud to be an official participant. Some social conservative groups protested the convention as a result, but gay conservatives and their allies this week declared victory, observing that they were well-received at the event.

More to follow, I’m sure….

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I want to sincerely apologize for my horrible coverage of CPAC.  I’ve had serious technical issues with my computer and camera equipment (NOT Marley’s fault, though!).  The Internet connection has beenvery bad.  The radio show got the plug pulled while we were live.  And I was helping to manage the behind-the-scenes drama involving GOProud this week.  All in all, not what I was expecting.

There is a lot more I’m hoping to report on  (with video & photos!) over the next couple of days.  I have what I think is exclusive coverage of the guy who yelled “WAR CRIMINAL” at former VP Dick Cheney.  I’m hoping to get that up soon.

Again, I’m hoping that you follow me on Twitter as I’ve been able to get out easier that way since I’ve been here.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

The Blogger Free For All finished up about an hour ago here at CPAC. I was honored to be on the panel with Tony Katz from the Tony Katz Radio Spectacular, Tania Gail from Midnight Blue Says, Joy – aka – Little Miss Attila, Alexander McCobin from Students for Liberty, and Doug Welch from Stixblog. The whole affair was sponsored byKevin McKeever from Bank of Kev Productions.

Our discussion truly was a free-for-all.  We ranged from topics like our 2012 Presidential outlook (Mine –> grim.); how to become a well-read blog; and what the definition of “conservative” is all about.  These are great conservative bloggers and I always love to be in their company. 

Here’s are some photos from the discussion.

(more…)

Good morning from DC. I made sure I was up early to hear Andrew Breitbart’s opening. He was great, and A.D.D. as usual! I’ll write more after a quick breakfast.

For those attending CPAC, I’ll be on the Blogger Free for All Panel at noon today.

-Bruce

While we don’t always agree with social conservatives, we recognize how they have helped build the conservative movement. That said, by and large, we share the same goals as many of them: reducing the size of the federal government and expanding the freedoms our founders fought for over two centuries ago, the freedom of association and the freedom to determine our own destiny.

Both Bruce and I have been involved in the conservative movement in various capacities since the Reagan era.   We have both seen the commitment of social conservatives to electing candidates we also support.

We know that while we are often at odds with a number of social conservatives of variety of issues, we recognize that we need work beside them to advance certain shared goals, including a commitment to constitutional principles, judicial restraint, a reduced role for state and federal governments and more freedom for individuals and the institutions we join of our own accord. Those institutions include churches and synagogues as well as gay community associations (not to mention civic and professional organizations, to name but a few).

Hopefully, people will learn from the various experiences of gay people at this year’s CPAC, showing that while most rank-and-file conservatives are willing to work alongside gay conservatives, some are not wiling to do so if such association means the exclusion of social conservatives.   Despite some misunderstandings expressed in the comment section to the blog and elsewhere, we do not seek their exclusion.  

We are willing to work alongside social conservatives even if we have different goals on certain issues, provided the conservative movement as a whole continues to focus on the broad, inclusive agenda, promoted by Ronald Reagan, built upon with the 104th Congress and articulated anew with the Tea Party activism of the past two years.

And that it does not recast those unifying principles. (more…)

Below please find a post I wrote on the matter of GOProud Chairman Chris Barron’s recent remarks about Cleta Mitchell. When I ran it by Bruce as we had been discussing how to respond, he asked that I sign his name to it. So, consider it from both of us:

I have long believed it best to address your friends’ faults in private and your enemies’ in public. While Bruce and I have long been enthusiastic about GOProud and supportive of Chris Barron, its chairman of the Board and Jimmy LaSalvia, its executive director, as they try to create a national forum for gay conservatives, we have not always seen eye to eye with them. To be sure, we respect their work, enjoy their company and generally approve of the direction in which they are taking GOProud, but from time to time, we have been skeptical about some of their projects and have occasionally disagreed with their statements (or taken issue with their wording). We have expressed our concerns in private e-mails and polite conservations or merely in remarks to each other.

When we heard that Chris had called Cleta Mitchell a “nasty bigot” in a public forum, Bruce and I each contacted the other to express his concerns. We both believe he crossed a line and have been considering for the past 24 hours how to respond. This evening (Thursday, February 10), we thought it best to post this piece. While we disagree with Cleta Mitchell on a number of issues, we believe Chris was wrong to call her a “nasty bigot” to a reporter for the Metro Weekly. This is not appropriate public discourse. We are pleased that Chris apologized for using such intemperate language and encourage him to use greater discretion in future commentary.

UPDATE:  Just saw this commentary at Allahpundit which reflects our views: (more…)

UPDATE: SORRY GANG! The show had to be stopped because they were showing the preview of “Atlas Shrugged” and their folks pulled our plug. It’s all good though.

Listen to internet radio with Gaypatriot on Blog Talk Radio

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Here’s part of the interview with me by Larry O’Connor on The Stage Right Show last night.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Reader Peter Hughes alerted me to Ann Coulter’s latest column, one of the simultaneously funniest and most insightful commentaries on current events I’ve read all year.  Currently finishing her next book and is thus

. . . only able to catch bits and pieces of the news this month, but, based on what I’ve heard from the mainstream media, I’m pretty sure the conservative movement is now being led either by Jared Loughner or GOProud’s president, Chris Barron.

Pretty  much sums up their coverage of the first six weeks of this year.   A deranged Tea Party member shot up a rally featuring a Democratic Congresswoman while CPAC is all about GOProud.  Then, she joins Sarah Palin, albeit in a much different tone, in welcoming gay conservatives into the movement:

No, we don’t generally care for identity politics of any sort, much less hearing about people’s sex lives, even Nino Scalia’s. (And judging by the number of children he has, it’s pretty active.) Conservatives believe in individual rights, low tax rates, fighting terrorism and punishing criminals — so do gays! They also happen to believe Judy Garland was the most underappreciated and misunderstood person in the history of show business. I don’t think most gays care about gay marriage; they like going to the gay marriage meeting because it’s a good way to meet other gays.

Read the whole thing.

The reason Log Cabin had such a problem establishing its credibility within Republican circles was that too often it gained media exposure by attacking fellow Republicans and dwelling on gay issues.  For all too many years national office did not regularly take stands on the small-government agenda pushed by Reaganites or the ideas of judicial restraint long championed by Republicans.

They didn’t come around to endorsing the Contract with America until long after Congress voted on its provisions nor did Log Cabin leaders remind voters of the Republican focus on fiscal issues in 1994 and national security matters a decade later.  No wonder some on the right remain skeptical of a gay conservative group, even a new one like GOProud without the baggage of Log Cabin.

One of our readers, my occasional sparring partner and friendly correspondent Lloydletta alerted me to Erick Erickson’s piece on GOProud’s participation in C-PAC.  While that conservative blogger finds it “well and fine” that many on the right are willing to give this fledgling group “a seat at the table”, he remains skeptical of their goals, noting particularly their opposition to a federal amendment defining marriage, their support of DADT repeal and of legislation giving “health benefits to gay couples.”

Perhaps, Erickson has also expressed skepticism about former Vice President Cheney’s commitment to conservatism, given that he holds near identical positions to those of GOProud, particularly on same-sex marriage where he (like this new group) favors a state-by-state approach.

Finally, Erickson notes the group’s silence on a number of key conservative issues: (more…)

Tune in at 7PM for our live BlogTalkRadio show from the Marriott Wardman hotel lobby bar. I’m setting up and ready to go.

Click on the icon below to join the conversation!

Listen to internet radio with Gaypatriot on Blog Talk Radio-Bruce (GayPatriot)

In an overblown article in the Washington Times, the conservative leaders who favor skipping CPAC because of GOProud’s participation make an important acknowledgment, an acknowledgment which undermines the narrative we’ve been hearing repeated year in and year out (particularly among our gay peers) about American conservatism:

Deepening a rift ahead of the largest annual gathering of conservative activists in Washington this week, some of the movement’s top leaders have circulated a private memo urging that conservatism’s founding principles be recast to exclude gay rights groups from the Reagan coalition of economic, defense and social conservatives.

Emphasis added.  Let me repeat to make sure you get the point:  to exclude gays, they need to recast conservatism’s founding principles.   Without this recasting, you couldn’t excluded gays from the Reagan coalition.

That’s right, the Reagan coalition is inherently inclusive, not exclusive as some might style it.

Do wonder why these folks are so obsessed with gay participation.  Methinks also that the Washington Times is making them appear more of a force than they actually are.  Not sure why they’re going around casting some fringe figures as “top leaders.”

That said, GOProud’s participation in particular and the idea of inclusion of gay people in general (in the conservative movement), has been getting some support from unexpected quarters:

Countering the call for exclusion, Larry L. Eastland, a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an ACU board member, warned in a letter to fellow board members to “not be guilty of ‘casting the first stone’ on others’ sins.”

“Let us not lose sight of our goals by closing the door on individuals who will stand with us on public issues on which we agree, and keep to themselves their differences on issues where it could give ‘aid and comfort’ to our opponents,” he wrote.

He said rather than pre-emptive exclusion, CPAC should wait to see whether groups violate the gathering’s fundamental principles and, if they do, they should not be invited back.

As a reminder, those belonging to the Church of the Latter Day Saints are Mormons, so we have one Mormon leader favoring inclusion of those who share conservatism’s fundamental principles.  Seems Mr. Eastland has a better appreciation of Ronald Reagan’s vision than some who would style themselves his heirs.

His view seems to undermine another narrative popular on the left, particularly the gay left.

While I’m in between wrapping up work-related things and packing my suitcase, I wanted to put out a quick pre-CPAC post.  I’m flying from Charlotte to DC tomorrow afternoon and will be “on the air” at 7pm tomorrow night (more on that below….)  Throughout the CPAC conference, I’ll mostly be stationed in the Bloggers Lounge and will do my best to capture the sights and sounds.  PatriotPartner (John) will also be reporting and taking photos from the conference.

I have a new camcorder, digital camera and the FlipVideo in my pocket (well, briefcase) and I’ll try to do more video interviews this year.  The camcorder has already survived an early murder attempt by our dog Marley this week.

I’m also honored to be on a panel again this year at CPAC.  The Blogger Free-For-All panel sponsored by Bank of Kev Productions is Saturday at noon for two whole hours.  Last year’s panel was a hoot so I’m looking forward to this year even more!

Finally, I’m going to attempt live radio shows from CPAC at 7PM Eastern Time Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.  Wed & Fri will be from the Marriott Wardman lobby’s bar; Thursday will be from the Bloggers’ Bash party at FreedomWorks HQ.  I’ve changed the name of the BlogTalkRadio program to “The GayPatriot Report” — somehow it sounds better to me.

So to preview the experience I’m about to have, I offer you this video which shows the history of the CPAC event.  Stay tuned to the blog and especially my Twitter feed for all of the latest as I hit the ground in DC tomorrow through Sunday.  (That last sentence wasn’t my best example of grammar….)

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Perhaps the greatest thing about the GOProud/CPAC kerfuffle is that it makes manifest something we gay conservatives have long observed, that while we may not agree with our ideological confrères on all issues, they do welcome us into the movement.

As Greg at Rhymes with Right reminds us, the Gipper himself pioneered the notion of the Big Tent:

Ronald Reagan recognized the men and women of good will can differ on issues yet still remain friends and allies. Such differences are the basis for discussion, not excommunication from the greater conservative movement. And as I look at GOProud’s platform, i find them to fall within the mainstream of conservatism.

Read the whole thing.

No, media narratives notwithstanding, we are not viewed as party crashers. Real conservatives agree with the Gipper. If you’re with us on most issues, come join us in the fight for freedom.  Ronald Reagan would look at GOProud’s platform and welcome this fledging conservative organization into the movement he helped create.

Kinda wrecks the narrative:

HOPE: Sarah Palin Throws Support Behind GOProud Participation at CPAC.

Ed Morrissey sums its up:

Palin has quietly backed the end of DADT and expressed support for conservative gays and lesbians in the past. Speaking here with David Brody from the Christian Broadcast Network and excerpted by Breitbart TV, Palin doesn’t endorse GOProud but does defend their attendance at CPAC, and argues that the value of events such as CPAC is to debate the issues and provide as much information as possible to attendees

Not quite a ringing endorsement, but she does seem to subscribe to the view that the conservative movement should be open to all who embrace conservative ideas.  And note also that the accomplished former Alaska Governor is talking to someone from the Christian Broadcast Network which surely includes some viewers who would not welcome GOProud’s participation.  This lady is not pandering to her audience.

Make sure to check out Ed’s post for his poll on GOProud participation.

Seems I should have stayed in DC, looks like GOProud’s CPAC party with Andrew Breitbart is going to be one heckuva blow out:

“The Big Party will celebrate GOProud and the growth of a conservative movement that is focused on getting the government out of people’s lives,” said Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud. “We are thrilled to have Andrew Breitbart join us in putting together what will be the party of the CPAC weekend.”

“This party will highlight the story the main stream media has missed in the weeks leading up to CPAC, namely that the vast majority of the conservative movement is united and welcomes GOProud and any other conservative into the fold,” said Andrew Breitbart, a member of GOProud’s Advisory Council. “The truth is that it is liberals in America who are bent on dividing people, on forcing people into ideological boxes based merely on their race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.”

The invitation only event will be headlined by Grammy Award nominated singer/songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, and will be held from 9 PM to Midnight at the 18th Street Lounge in Washington, D.C. The event sponsors include Paul E. Singer, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Poker Players Alliance, Institute for Liberty, and Bank of Kev Productions.

Emphasis added.  Yup, folks despite the odd behavior of the Heritage Foundation and the media focus on the handful of groups boycotting the conservative confab, most leading American conservatives have no problem working alongside their gay confrères.

Last night at our Happy Hour in the nation’s capital, which included Chris Barron from GOProud as well as representatives of various libertarian think tanks inside the Beltway, many of us were speculating about the reasons Heritage had pulled out of CPAC this year.  Some (and for good reason) claimed to have inside information while others offered insights based on their experience with the institution.

We all agreed that Heritage often puts out some very good studies, particularly on matters related to the federal budget, and we agreed that the current kerfuffle may well also have undermined its leading role in the conservative movement.  

One libertarian scholar found it strange, noting that the foundation presents itself as a “big tent” organization and reminded us that Heritage had participated in past CPACs where the John Birch Society had signed up as a co-sponsor.  Does that mean, he asked, that they agree with the Birchers?

We may never know who pushed the non-participation and why he (or she) pushed it, but one thing is clear from this mess is that Heritage has lost its standing as the conservative Beltway establishment holding together the various and diverse stands of the movement.

Via Reader that Gay Conservative, we find the Heritage Foundation making explicit what many (including yours truly) believed was implicit in its decision not to participate in this year’s CPAC:

The move, however, has been seen that way by insiders and outsiders, and Heritage — a pillar of the conservative movement – shifted its public stance in a Times article up this evening:

“GOProud was one element in the decision,” said James Weidman, a foundation spokesman.

Heritage, which isn’t primarily identified with opposition to gay rights or with social issues more generally, is the biggest surprise among the CPAC boycotters, and making its move public deepens the rift on the right.

First of all, I’m not sure this deepens any rift.  What it really does is expose the me-tooism* of Heritage’s leadership. It seems the leaders of this conservative foundation (as opposed to many (if not most) of the scholars and policy expects who work there as well as those who contribute to their studies and other publications) are eager to curry favor with social conservatives.  This may well be a fundraising strategy, a means to distinguish Heritage from the many conservative groups who are participating in the confab.

Whatever the case, this move does not look good for Heritage.  Their ever-changing explanations show an organization struggling to appease social conservatives without distancing themselves from more mainstream elements in the Leave Us Alone Coalition.  They might better be served by taking part while pointing out that participation in CPAC doesn’t indicate agreement with all the other participants and leave it at that. (more…)