Breitbart Skipping CPAC; Others Put Down Gays

The situation between the gay conservative group GOProud and the organizer of the Conservative Political Action Conference remains tense, with commentator Andrew Breitbart (pictured) vowing to boycott CPAC because of GOProud's exclusion and homophobic comments coming from some people connected with the event.

Late last month the American Conservative Union, which runs the annual conference, notified GOProud that the gay group "will not be invited to participate in a formal role" in CPAC or other events in the 2012 election cycle, although individual members are welcome to attend. Some groups objected to GOProud's sponsorship role at the 2011 conference.

Breitbart, a prominent conservative blogger and member of GOProud's advisory council, has announced he won't attend CPAC if the group is excluded, and another right-wing commentator, Roger L. Simon, has joined him. Meanwhile, GOProud leaders met with ACU chairman Al Cardenas Wednesday, the day after antigay comments by Cardenas's wife, Diana, were publicized on a Miami Herald blog.

Herald blogger Steve Rothaus quoted statements Diana Cardenas made on her Facebook page, including her assertion that homosexuality is "not nature's way" and is comparable to a disability or an illness. She also said, "I always wondered why homosexuals are referred to as 'gay,' kind of an oxymoron? Nothing really 'gay' about them or their movement."

Al Cardenas said the meeting "was not easy," according to the National Journal's Hotline on Call blog, and GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia told the blog he made it clear that he had read Diana Cardenas's comments, but the meeting focused largely on GOProud's exclusion from CPAC.

"I expressed my disappointment," he told Hotline on Call. "Our work to defeat Barack Obama won't be happening at CPAC, but it will be happening."