GOProud isn't invited to this year's conservative confab, but the organization -- and the issue of gay marriage -- won't be absent.

Reuters

It may look like representatives of GOProud, a group of gay conservatives, are speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference tomorrow, but they're not.

Sure, they will be holding a panel in the same building at the same time, but they aren't officially part of CPAC. That's because CPAC -- a yearly gathering of who's who in the conservative movement -- did not invite GOProud to participate. The group is getting the chance to be on site, however, because one of the CPAC hosts, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is sponsoring a panel called "A Rainbow on the Right: Growing the Coalition, Bringing Tolerance Out of the Closet."

The history of CPAC and GOProud has been fraught with problems. The gay group was invited to participate in the 2010 and 2011 conferences, despite an outcry from plenty of antigay participants. And the reason GOProud did not get an invite this year is disputable. CPAC Chairman Al Cardenas told radio station 630 WMAL that the group just didn't behave well in the past.

"From time to time, there are organizations or individuals who we think go over the top when they are our guests at CPAC, and for years we've decided not to invite them again for the following year, given that particular group of circumstances," he said, noting that last year GOProud members held press conferences "attacking" CPAC board members.