The Log Cabin Republicans are being shut out of this year’s Western Conservative Summit that’s set to take place in Denver this summer. Every year big names in the far-right gather for the three-day summit to hob-knob, strategize, and forge political relationships with one another. The Centennial Institute, a notable conservative think tank, is responsible for sponsoring the event. The Log Cabin intended on setting up a booth in the Summit’s usual event space where they planned to advocate for marriage equality and other queer, conservative causes.
While the Summit is willing to host the Log Cabin in a non-official capacity, its organizers are apparently unwilling to associate themselves with the group on moral grounds. "We'd love to have them attend the summit and be in the discussion,” explained John Andrews (pictured), president of the Centennial Institute. "But we have to draw the line at a formal relationship between two organizations with diametrically opposed policy beliefs."
Leadership from within the Log Cabin Republicans expressed shock at The Centennial Institute’s decision to exclude them from their gathering. That sort of behavior, insisted Colorado Log Cabin VP Alexander Hornaday, speaks to a general shortsightedness within the GOP. "What turns young people off from the right is a perception that the right is intolerant or anti-gay,” said Hornaday. “This reinforces that perception."
