http://www.mediaite.com/online/goproud-founder-officially-leaves-republican-party-over-tolerance-of-bigotry/Jimmy LaSalvia, the founder of the conservative gay advocacy group GOProud, has officially announced his departure from the Republican Party.
“Today, I joined the ranks of unaffiliated voters. I am every bit as conservative as I’ve always been, but I just can’t bring myself to carry the Republican label any longer,” LaSalvia wrote. “You see, I just don’t agree with the big-government ‘conservatives’ who run the party now.”
He also cited the GOP’s “tolerance of bigotry” as a reason for his departure. “The current leadership lacks the courage to stand up to it,” he lamented, “I’m not sure they ever will.”
LaSalvia remarked upon his successful efforts to “create an atmosphere on the right where conservatives can openly support gay Americans and even support same-sex marriage,” but noted there is “more work to do” to “root out the anti-gay and other forms of bigotry in the party.”
And so, he officially changed his voter registration to “No Party,” which was also the blog post’s title.
“I feel huge sense of freedom,” he concluded. “I am an independent conservative. (That sounds much better than ‘gay Republican.’)”
