The Western Conservative Summit is a gathering of the most influential newsmakers of the right. The convention this year is scheduled for June in Denver, where thousands of conservative activists will gather to hear Republican presidential hopefuls like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Pennsylvania Sen Rick Santorum speak. The event is organized by The Centennial Institute, a think tank affiliated with Colorado Christian University.
The Log Cabin Republicans have been barred from the Western Conservative Summit. Like every other organization who wishes to have a presence at the convention, the pro-gay GOP group paid the $250 fee to apply for a sponsored table. However, according to the Denver Post, Log Cabin later received a message from the Centennial Institute — the Colorado Christian University-affiliated sponsor of the summit — informing them that they cannot officially participate as a “partner, exhibitor, or advertiser.”
Why? Because the group’s “worldview and policy agenda are fundamentally at odds with what Colorado Christian University stands for, so it’s just not a fit,” read the Institute’s note. “I’m sorry it has to be that way.”
Members of the pro-gay group are still free to buy tickets and attend the event, the sponsors are quick to note. “They’ll take our money, but want us in the closet,” responded Michael Carr, an official with the state’s chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans.
How did the Centennial Institute respond to this controversy? I’ll print their Facebook response in full (lest I because of omitting something important):
We’ve been asked who’s welcome at Western Conservative Summit 2015. The answer: everyone! Come one, come all: conservatives, moderates, and liberals; black, white, Hispanic, or Asian; young or old; immigrant or DAR; Republicans, Democrats, libertarians; gay or straight. WCS year by year has been about building a coalition of all ages, all colors, and all backgrounds, devoted to reviving liberty and sharing Judeo-Christian truth and love. Did we notify a GOP group advocating same-sex marriage that their members are welcome as individuals but they’re not eligible organizationally as an exhibit partner? Yes, because CCU as sponsor of the Summit has a biblical position opposite to theirs that we’re duty bound to uphold, as the link explains. We hope some of these folks, the Log Cabin Republicans, sign up as WCS15 delegates and come for all the points of agreement held in common, leaving the marriage disagreement for debate elsewhere.
I love how the first part is in direct contradiction of the second part, i.e., we welcome everybody, including gays, exhibit for the part where you actually are, you know, gay.
I understand why a gay person could believe in, say, smaller government, a bigger military, concealed weapons, “pro-life”, etc. I mean, just because a person is homosexual does not mean they cannot support some — or even most — of the GOP platform. But even as I say that, I have a hard time understanding these Log Cabin Republicans. I mean, how much humiliation must they go through before they realize that the rank and file of the Republican party thinks they are less than human? I know, I know — “change from within” and all that, but they would have an easier time converting Democrats to Republican views on the economy and foreign relations than they would moving Republicans off of their anti-gay stance.
Anyway, read the comments section on the Centennial Institute Facebook page. It’s amusing.