The New Year Brings The Same Old News

It is a new year but in the world of CPAC, it’s the same old same old. It seems that defending individual liberty and fiscal responsibility while also supporting a limited federal government is only considered “conservative” if you’re not a gay organization. Just like last year, when gay Republican group GOProud signed on as one of CPAC’s many sponsors, talk of boycotting the largest conservative conference was threatened from social conservatives. This year, at least two large social conservative groups have publicly announced their boycott of February’s Conservative Political Action Conference over GOPRoud’s involvement as a "participating organization.”

WorldNetDaily ran a piece stating that Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America are among other groups adding their names to the list of boycotters. The problem these conservative groups have with GOProud’s involvement is the notion that it necessarily sends the message that “moral opposition to homosexuality is no longer welcome in the conservative movement.” That sounds like a half-baked and illogical conclusion to me because I recognize that no group (political, racial or otherwise) is a monolith. What GOProud’s involvement really says is that conservative thinkers come from all walks of life and though we may disagree on how some people live their lives, they have the right to live them free of government intervention. That’s the type of conservative message I would expect from the nation’s largest conservative gathering.

I don’t deny an organization’s right to boycott any event they choose for any reason they’ve chosen but I will point out what I think is total hypocrisy of their so-called “conservative values.” Nobody forces attendees to go to specific speaking events during CPAC and nobody would force FRC or CWA to approve of, support or otherwise engage with GOProud if they chose not to. Shutting any conservative group out of a conservative convention because they fail to conform to another’s idea of what conservative is would be wrong. GOProud rarely jumps on the “homosexual agenda” bandwagon and, even more telling of the organization’s endorsements and positions, is often blasted by the gay community on the left. I don’t always agree with them but GOProud definitely has a strong record of conservatism. In fact, with regard to fiscal matters and foreign policy GOProud probably stands on the same side as FRC and CWA.

The way I see it, any conservative group boycotting a conservative conference because gay conservatives will be there is a group I can do without anyway. I'm interested in a conservative movement that is more concerned with what's going on in government rather than in another conservative's bedroom.

What do you think? Should conservative groups boycott CPAC or are they making a big deal out of nothing?