Last week, organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) prohibited gay conservative group Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) from sponsoring the upcoming conference. The group’s executive director Gregory T. Angelo released a statement last Thursday criticizing the event’s organizers.
“The [American Conservative Union] is fond of hiding behind a fig leaf stating gay people are welcome as guests, but the ability to buy a ticket to CPAC was never what our debate was about; indeed, I will be attending CPAC, as will hundreds of other Log Cabin Republicans members and supporters. Make no mistake: LCR is actively being prohibited from sponsoring CPAC. For our organization, this has always been about contributing to CPAC as sponsors or in some recognized capacity. Time and time again, when we should the ACU that we met their criteria for sponsorship, the reasons for our exclusion changed.”
But now that Angelo has been invited to CPAC as a speaker on a panel titled “Putin’s Russia: A New Cold War?” he has backtracked on his earlier comments about the ACU. Calling the invitation to speak “an honor,” Angelo actually apologized to the conservative group.
“After some very fruitful conversations with the leadership of The American Conservative Union, we would like to express regret if anyone associated with The American Conservative Union felt unfairly maligned. That was never our intention.”
It seems as though Angelo is ready to ignore the ACU’s rampant homophobia as long as he gets a little publicity at the conference as a result.
Watch Angelo discuss the LCR’s situation regarding CPAC sponsorship with Thom Hartmann on a recent segment of The Big Picture.
