Gay Conservatives and CPAC

Some conservative organizations are pulling out of this year's CPAC convention over the inclusion of gay conservative groups:

After tensions came to a boiling point last year when a speaker was booed off stage for preaching against gays in his speech, several conservative groups are planning to boycott this years Conservative Political Action Committee over the inclusion of gay conservative groups at the conference, including the Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation. But not all conservatives are upset with the move– Andrew Breitbart, for one, is throwing a party.

The Family Research Council, Heritage Foundation, and American Family Association have canceled their tickets to CPAC– by far one of the largest conventions of its sort in the nation– this year, the LA Times reports, over the increased inclusion of gay conservative groups like GOProud and other socially liberal and libertarian organizations. CPAC also refused to sponsor a panel on the virtues of male-female marriage, much to these groups’ chagrin. According to the Times, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins explained to supporters in an email about their withdrawal from the event that “conservatives and homosexuals cannot coexist in a movement predicated on social values,” and as such their group no longer had a place in CPAC. Meanwhile, Heritage Foundation vice president for communications Mike Gonzales told the newspaper that, when it comes to conservative values, “you can’t pick one and not the other,” referring to economic and social values.

I don't think the Family Research Council, Heritage Foundation, and American Family Association are doing themselves any favors by pulling out of this event. They end up removing their influence from this important conservative gathering, and that's doesn't help anybody.

 Conservatives don't come in one-size-fits-all packages - lots of different viewpoints on social and economic issues can be include within the conservative movement. If we work together we have a much better chance of moving conservative policies into the government.