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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 04:55 PM Jun 2014

UPDATED: Gay Republican Group GoProud Shutting Down

Last edited Wed Jun 4, 2014, 09:22 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: LiberalLand

June 3, 2014

GOProud, the gay conservative organization that once boasted Andrew Breitbart on its advisory board, is folding its tent. Continued resistance from other conservative groups, and group founder Jimmy LaSalvia’s very public split with the GOP in January, proved too difficult for the organization to overcome.

On Sunday, GOProud Executive Director Matthew Bechstein admitted that the group’s brand is broken, and future efforts to achieve gay acceptance within the conservative project will require a new organizational identity.

LaSalvia and Chris Barron seemed to have momentum when they split from the Log Cabin Republicans, which they saw as too liberal, and formed GOProud in 2009. Endorsements from conservative stars like Brietbart and Anne Coulter lent the group some measure of legitimacy, boosting the group’s access and fundraising. In 2011, Breitbart even threw them a “Big Gay CPAC party.”

But Breitbart resigned from the GOProud advisory later that year when LaSalvia outed a gay staffer of Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose campaign had issued a homophobic TV ad. Responding to boycotts by ‘family values’ conservative groups, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference ended GOProud’s participation in the conference a few months later. GOProud has been in decline ever since.

-snip-



Read more: http://www.alan.com/2014/06/03/gay-republican-group-goproud-shutting-down/



GOProud Denies, Then Admits It Is Closing Down

http://www.bilerico.com/2014/06/goproud_denies_then_admits_it_is_closing_down.php

UPDATE:

Republican LGBT group GOProud denies that it’s shutting down, just ‘re-branding’

The Republican LGBT group GOProud denies that it is closing its doors for good, but is rather engaging in a “re-branding” effort to distance itself from past controversies. The Bilerico Project reported, however, that the denials are just a sop to anxious donors while the current directors of the group attempt to distance themselves from a PR “disaster.”

On Sunday, Bilerico’s Andy Markle wrote that when founders Chris Barron and Jimmy LaSalvia left GOProud, donors fled.

“Finding it difficult to continue without securing more funding, GOProud will be shutting down immediately,” said Markle.

“The organization may rebrand and regroup later, but for now, the organization will no longer be functioning,” he said. “Co-director Matthew Bechstein stated in an interview that the ‘brand is broken’ and a rebrand is necessary.”

GOProud immediately denied the story, publishing a statement on its website and on Facebook that quoted Bechstein as saying, “The truth is, GOProud has had some preliminary discussions about rebranding. That is, changing our name. As with any organization — when new challenges arise, we react with necessary adjustments.”

“There have been concerns among our members and investors, about whether or not we can continue to grow and be effective without severing ourselves from past controversies. Nonetheless, at this point nothing has been decided. We are still discussing all the possibilities, and would be months away from instituting any real changes,” he said.

Bechstein admitted to spinning the truth to Bilerico’s Bill Browning on Monday, saying he’d issued the comforting statements “so I wouldn’t scare our members and thwart our fundraising efforts.” He was only trying, he said, “to mitigate a disaster.”

According to the Advocate, Bechstein is trying to have it both ways, claiming that GOProud will be the same organization, but will operate under a different name and with a modified agenda.

“The organization, founded in 2009, has seen its share of controversy, from outside criticism and within its own ranks,” wrote the Advocate‘s Sunnivie Brydum. “Last year, GOProud founder Jimmy LaSalvia left the organization and the Republican Party, slamming GOP leaders in an interview with The Advocate‘s editorial director, Lucas Grindley.”

However, as Bilerico noted, “While Bechstein claims that filing dissolution paperwork with the federal government would necessitate ‘immediate subsequent reorganization,’ this is not a requirement from the government. The group will simply be dissolved. Any new group formed would have to file independent paperwork as needed depending on how they reorganize.”

The attempts to spin the group’s dissolution as a sign of growth, Bechstein admitted to Bilerico, were a ruse. When news broke via Markle’s article that group was shutting down, Bechstein “(p)anicked that the news had broken before all participants had been informed” and rushed to print a denial.

“Let me be clear, no matter what happens, our grassroots infrastructure and our daily activism will continue throughout any possible transition,” Bechstein said to Bilerico on Monday. “We do not plan to stop working. What has made this organization strong in the past is the support and devotion of our membership, I don’t expect that to waver in the future.”

###

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/04/republican-lgbt-group-goproud-denies-that-its-shutting-down-just-re-branding/

Posted with permission
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Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
UPDATED: Gay Republican Group GoProud Shutting Down (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2014 OP
GOProud, with no votes, you ARE the Weakest Link. Goodbye! KamaAina Jun 2014 #1
Lol iandhr Jun 2014 #4
It had better stay up until the ticker tape parade KamaAina Jun 2014 #7
Don't jinx it iandhr Jun 2014 #10
Me too leftynyc Jun 2014 #28
Hasta la Vista, losers!!! theHandpuppet Jun 2014 #2
and the Vegetarian Club closes at Texas Cattlemans University... tomm2thumbs Jun 2014 #3
I am in MA working on one of the Democratic campaigns for governor... iandhr Jun 2014 #5
I think your predictive autocorrect function changed a key word in your post. tblue37 Jun 2014 #11
Thank you iandhr Jun 2014 #17
lol closeupready Jun 2014 #6
Anne Coulter and Brietbart endorsements? Really? YOHABLO Jun 2014 #8
They're "libertarian" types. They claim to be socially liberal, and fiscally conservative. What a Tarheel_Dem Jun 2014 #12
Excellent!!! nt kelliekat44 Jun 2014 #14
You'd need Hubble to measure it. :-} n/t DeSwiss Jun 2014 #25
good riddance kcdoug1 Jun 2014 #9
Bunch of morans. (Fixed it for you!) blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #23
Gay Republican? liberal N proud Jun 2014 #13
aka Chickens for Colonel Sanders theHandpuppet Jun 2014 #16
or Jews for Hitler dembotoz Jun 2014 #29
"future efforts to achieve gay acceptance within the conservative project" DeadLetterOffice Jun 2014 #15
future efforts to achieve gay acceptance within the conservative project blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #22
Yeah right? Just flew in from Cleveland, myself, and wow, are my arms tired. closeupready Jun 2014 #30
Fuck them Tom Ripley Jun 2014 #18
And I'm sure all ten of them are terribly sad. n/t JoeyT Jun 2014 #19
But where will they all go? rpannier Jun 2014 #20
Bwahahaha. blkmusclmachine Jun 2014 #21
Gay Republicans not welcome? undiegrinder Jun 2014 #24
In the GOP, I think most of the gays are more ashamed than proud. olddad56 Jun 2014 #26
Thanks for the laugh! alcina Jun 2014 #27
 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
7. It had better stay up until the ticker tape parade
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 05:10 PM
Jun 2014

in the Canyon of Heroes. (Ex-Noo Yawker now living in San Jose. )

tomm2thumbs

(13,297 posts)
3. and the Vegetarian Club closes at Texas Cattlemans University...
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 05:04 PM
Jun 2014

self-loathing was never a good look for Republicans anyway

iandhr

(6,852 posts)
5. I am in MA working on one of the Democratic campaigns for governor...
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 05:09 PM
Jun 2014

Last edited Tue Jun 3, 2014, 06:57 PM - Edit history (1)

… this group made a pretty enthusiastic endorsement of the Republican candidate.

tblue37

(64,982 posts)
11. I think your predictive autocorrect function changed a key word in your post.
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 05:40 PM
Jun 2014

I have begun to notice such things lately, after discovering that my own posts and email messages were falling victim to the mischievous little autocorrect imp. I can usually spot an autocorrect malapropism in someone's post.

 

YOHABLO

(7,358 posts)
8. Anne Coulter and Brietbart endorsements? Really?
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 05:16 PM
Jun 2014

"Endorsements from conservative stars like Brietbart and Anne Coulter lent the group some measure of legitimacy,"

Are you kidding me? ''..lent the group some measure of legitimacy'' I wonder what ''measure'' they were thinking about? I don't get Right Wing Gays .. is it because they're greedy? Did mommy and daddy always vote Republican? Are they just self loathing enough to vote against their own best interests? Are there any black Log Cabin Republicans and now defunct GOPROUD's?

Tarheel_Dem

(31,211 posts)
12. They're "libertarian" types. They claim to be socially liberal, and fiscally conservative. What a
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 05:54 PM
Jun 2014

crock. Just more rich self absorbed a$$holes who don't want "those people" benefitting from their "hard earned tax dollars". I guess shame is too much to ask from them.

liberal N proud

(60,302 posts)
13. Gay Republican?
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 06:02 PM
Jun 2014

Really? That would make them another group voting against their own best interest. Or was GOProud just GOP attempt to lure gays into the fold?


rpannier

(24,304 posts)
20. But where will they all go?
Tue Jun 3, 2014, 07:45 PM
Jun 2014

They'll have to find a new uber conservative organization to hate them while they grovel for scraps

on note: Interesting as it was on the same date that Jews for Hitler Closed it's doors in the 1930's. :sarcasm

olddad56

(5,732 posts)
26. In the GOP, I think most of the gays are more ashamed than proud.
Wed Jun 4, 2014, 01:23 AM
Jun 2014

maybe because their wives have don't have a clue.

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