Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart
says former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin supports gay GOP group
GOProud in CPAC row.
Breitbart, a member of GOProud's
advisory board, on Monday posted a Christian Broadcasting Network
(CBN) interview with the conservative celebrity as evidence.
In the interview, Palin is asked her
position on the decision by social conservatives to skip this
weekend's annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
convention because of GOProud's sponsorship of the event.
Several Republican lawmakers, including
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan,
and a smattering of socially conservative groups – the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), FRC Action and Concerned Women for
America (CWA) – have joined the boycott.
“[S]hould conservatives not reach out
to others, not participate in events or forums that perhaps are
rising within those forums are issues that maybe we don’t
personally agree with?” Palin said in the interview. “And I say
no, it’s like you being on a panel with – shoot – a bunch of
the liberal folks whom you have been on and you provide good
information and balance, and you allow for healthy debate, which is
needed in order for people to gather information and make up their
own minds about issues. I look at participation in an event like CPAC
or any other event, along, kind of in that same vein as the more
information that people have the better.”
Breitbart
posted the video on a blog post titled “Sarah Palin Throws Support
Behind GOProud Participation at CPAC.”
Palin's record on gay rights, however,
is a mixed bag at best. In November, she
defended her daughter's use of a gay slur. Palin
has also supported many anti-gay candidates, spoken at gatherings
sponsored by anti-gay groups and tweeted
support for rabidly homophobic pastor James David Manning, who
insists gays should be called “fags.”