Right-wing Web Mogul to Advise GOProud

Conservative media mogul Andrew Breitbart has joined the advisory board of gay Republican group GOProud, even though he and his websites have a history of antigay statements, such as a claim that he fears "the activist gay left ... more than al Qaeda," Media Matters reports.

Breitbart has said that while he is "gay-friendly," he dislikes "the gay political-activist community," which he once described in a Washington Times commentary as "a small minority of left-wing agitators acting on behalf of the whole." In that piece he denounced gay blogger Perez Hilton's questioning of Miss California Carrie Prejean about same-sex marriage at the 2009 Miss USA Pageant, calling it a "setup."

Breitbart runs Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv, and his sites host several blogs. For one, contributor Jim Hoft wrote several articles accusing Kevin Jennings, an assistant deputy secretary in the Department of Education, of promoting fisting and intergenerational sex to young teens. Breitbart himself touted these articles on Twitter, in one tweet in 2009 wishing Media Matters a "Merry Fist-mas" and a subsequent one saying, "If Kevin Jennings' so great, make him Obama's 'Safe Prison Czar' at Thomson Correctional Facility & let him teach fisting to al Qaeda."

Breitbart has endorsed GOProud's attendance at next month's Conservative Political Action Conference; the group's presence has led some right-wing groups and individuals to boycott the event. His statement in support of GOProud, however, may anger some gay people:

"I am not endorsing gay marriage, I'm not endorsing 'don't ask, don't tell,'" Breitbart said on a radio broadcast last week. "I will be the harshest critic of the activist gay left, who I fear more than al Qaeda. But for these people not to exist in a two-party system, for you to tell them they're not welcome in the big tent, I have a huge problem with that and I'm going to indulge in my all '80s Depeche Mode, Cure, New Order fetish and we're going to have a big ol' gay party at CPAC."

In a press release announcing Breitbart's appointment, GOProud chairman Christopher Barron called him "a fearless, committed advocate for conservative principles" who "like GOProud ... is on the cutting edge of the conservative movement." In the same announcement, Breitbart said, "I applaud GOProud's strong, principled conservatism and admire their courage to defy the left's stifling demand for group conformity."