Thursday, June 21, 2012
Gay conservative group to host Homocon 2012 in Ybor during Tampa RNC
GOProud is often referred to as the "other" gay Republican group.
Posted by Mitch Perry on Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 10:57 AM
The event is being produced by the gay conservative group GOProud, and will take place at the Honeypot in Ybor City after the second night of the RNC.
"It will be an after-party after the RNC session on Tuesday, August 28," GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia confirmed to CL.
LaSalvia says GOProud is still working on the event, so they don't have a lot of details to provide yet on the programming.
The first Homocon in 2010 in New York City featured conservative firebrand Ann Coulter. Last year's event was held in Washington.
Meanwhile the group's endorsement of Mitt Romney for president on Tuesday is engendering a bit of controversy.
GOProud on Tuesday decided to back the Republican standard bearer, despite the fact that they're not in sync with his stance on same-sex marriage.
"The bottom line is that this election is about more than one issue, and the issues of jobs and the economy and the general directon of our country are so important," LaSalvia says. "We've got a failed president on our hands and we need to replace him, and Mitt Romney is the best person to beat him. That's the reality, and gay people are living in this disastrous economy, too."
GOProud's vote was not unanimous, and LaSalvia admits he has some issues with the former Massachusetts governor.
"I have a disagreement with Governor Romney on the Federal Marriage Amendment (that's a constitutional amendment that would enshrine that marriage is between a man and a woman in the U.S.), which Romney supports...I think he's wrong on that issue."
Romney not only supports that measure, but is also against gay civil unions; even George W. Bush was in favor of civil unions, endorsing them back in 2004.
Romney's stances on marriage and civil unions are among the reasons the most well-known gay Republican group, the Log Cabin Republicans, has yet to endorse Romney for president.
“We strongly disagree with Governor Romney when it comes to marriage freedom,” Christian Berle, Deputy Executive Director with the Log Cabin Republicans in Washington told CL earlier this week. "We raise it with the campaign and party consistently.”
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