Tolerance protects us from tyranny

It's a silly squabble. GOProud, a conservative gay group, gets invited to participate in next month's Conservative Political Action Conference, and suddenly it's like a food fight at the Republican frat house.

Some high-profile conservative luminaries such as South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint and L. Brent Bozell III of the Media Research Center say they'll boycott the event.

Socially conservative groups such as the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, the American Conservative Union and Young Americans for Freedom won't participate this year, either.

Big political philosophies naturally contain smaller family disagreements. Whether to allow gay conservatives to participate in CPAC isn't the first, and it won't be the last.

Not knowing much about GOProud, I checked out its website. The group's legislative agenda reads as follows:

1. Tax reform: "We support replacing the current tax code with the Fair Tax. Until then, we support death tax repeal; domestic partner tax equity; cuts in the capital gains and corporate tax rates to jump start our economy and create jobs; and a fairer, flatter and substantially simpler tax code."

2. Health care reform: "Free market health-care reform. Allow for the purchase of insurance across state lines -- expanding access to domestic partner benefits; emphasizing individual ownership of health care insurance -- such a shift would prevent discriminatory practices by an employer or the government."

3. Social Security reform: "The only way to permanent solvency in the Social Security system is through the creation of inheritable personal savings accounts. Personal savings accounts would give gay and lesbian couples the same opportunity to leave their accounts to their spouse as their straight counterparts."

4. Respecting the proper role of the judiciary: "We believe our Constitution should be respected and that judges appointed to the federal bench should recognize the proper and appropriate role of the judiciary as laid out by our Founding Fathers."

5. Holding the line on spending: "Standing up for all taxpayers against wasteful and unnecessary spending to protect future generations from the mounting federal debt."

6. Fighting global extremists: "Standing strong against radical regimes that refuse to recognize the basic human rights of gays and lesbians, women and religious minorities."

7. Defending our Constitution: "Opposing any anti-gay federal marriage amendment. Marriage should be a question for the states. A federal constitutional amendment on marriage would be an unprecedented federal power grab from the states."

8. Encouraging community entrepreneurship: "Package of free-market reforms to encourage and support small businesses and entrepreneurship. Such reforms would create jobs for all Americans -- including gay Americans."

9. Revitalizing our communities: "A package of urban-related reforms; expanding historic tax preservation credits; support for school choice."

10. Defending our community: "Protecting 2nd amendment rights."

If that were a petition, most conservatives would line up to sign up. The rub, of course, is that the agenda comes from an openly gay group.

Even though 31 percent of voters in the past election who identified themselves as gay voted for conservative candidates, there are some in the coalition of the righteously conservative who believe there is no room under the GOP's tent for gays.

It is wrong behavior. It is a sin.

I can't tell you within the constraints of this newspaper column how much I personally disagree with that view. In all too many disagreements of a religious nature, one man's button is another man's hook.

Freedom to pursue happiness, then, becomes the tie that binds.

And that's the bigger point, isn't it?

CPAC is not a church. It is a political conclave, one in which conservatives of all understandings attend and find common ground (and protection) in the principles of freedom and individual rights.

Conservatives do not subscribe to one set of religious tenets or even one set of social mores. Conservatives demonstrate a generosity of spirit highlighted in the Old West principle of "live and let live."

You say you want to exclude GOProud from the big tent of conservatism? Count me out.

I choose tolerance. Coupled with the ideals of conservative thought, it's the best protection from government-sponsored tyranny.

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal.com), the former publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and a member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame, writes a column for Stephens Media. Read his blog at lvrj.com/blogs/sherm.