(Sara Crusade/Examiner.com) – Right Pride, the Las Vegas organization representing conservative gays, hosted a Happy Hour event at the Artisan Hotel Boutique on March 16, 2011. The special guest for the event was Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud. GOProud is the national organization representing gay conservatives and their allies, which co-sponsored this year’s CPAC amidst controversy and boycott by Senator Jim DeMint and the Heritage Foundation.
Just as Right Pride was founded to fill a need within the conservative community locally, GOProud was created two years ago by LaSalvia and Chris Barron, both of whom felt gay conservatives needed a voice. According to LaSalvia, the organization was started with two laptop computers in a Capitol Hill coffee shop.
Despite the controversy that ensued from GOProud’s co-sponsorship of CPAC, the 2011 conference was the second that GOProud has co-sponsored, and GOProud has earned the respect and support of notable conservatives Ann Coulter and Andrew Breitbart, to name two.
According to LaSalvia, “CPAC was a great outpouring of support with people telling us how glad they were that we were there… There are high profile conservatives out there that know gay conservatives are an important part of the conservative movement.”
LaSalvia shared that GOProud has been working behind the scenes with potential presidential candidates. He stated the organization is also working on issues important to conservatives such as; social security reform and defunding of entitlements, and federal concealed carry reciprocity. LaSalvia stated he is looking forward to the presidential race and the opportunity to take on President Barack Obama.
As with any political not-for-profit whose life blood comes from donations, LaSalvia stated GOProud is planning on resurrecting the Homocon event this year; a fundraiser that was apparently successful in 2010. Last year’s guest was Ann Coulter.
For more information on GOProud and their commitment to a traditional conservative agenda, visit their website at GOProud.org. Right Pride was founded by Mark Ciavola, who made the Top Ten Conservative list in Nevada by Citizen Outreach. For information on Right Pride, visit their website at RightPride.org.
(Sara Michele Crusade is a freelance writer and photographer whose work has been published in the U.S. and Germany. She is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology. Email Sara at conservativecrusade@yahoo.com.)
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