On February 17-19, five young members of TFP Student Action attended the 32nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington D.C. Their participation included a protest against those who would claim same-sex “marriage” is an unresolved issue.
The largest gathering of conservatives in the country, CPAC 2005 was hosted by 68 of the most prominent conservative organizations in Washington. Nearly 4,500 conservative leaders, politicians, intellectuals and university and high school students came to meet and learn about one another, discuss current political, economic, and social issues, and strategize about the future.
TFP Student Action director John Ritchie, as well as TFP members Cesar Franco, James Bascom, John Miller, and John Bascom attended with Mr. Mario da Costa and Mr. Preston Noell of the TFP Washington Bureau. From the TFP booth, they collected over 500 surveys and distributed more than 3,000 pro-life and traditional marriage flyers, and hundreds of copies of the TFP’s bi-monthly magazine, Crusade. The TFP display included photos of street campaigns done over the last year.
Hundreds of university students from across the country attended this year’s CPAC, reflecting the increasing popularity of conservative and traditional values among the nation’s youth. This year’s group was particularly concerned with social issues, such as abortion and same-sex “marriage,” which are the center of the culture war waged on campus. Many expressed their appreciation for the TFP’s focus on the traditional marriage issue. “This is my favorite table every year,” said one student. “You are always fighting on recent issues like homosexuality.”
Many well-known conservative leaders spoke over the course of the three-day conference, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, former speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and Morton Blackwell of the Leadership Institute. Topics ranged from taxes to social security, gun control and same-sex “marriage.”
However, at 4:50 PM on Saturday, the last day of CPAC, there was a panel discussion on “Conservative Principle and Unresolved Issues: Differences Within the Family.” One such issue was same-sex “marriage,” and Patrick Guerriero of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual advocacy group, was scheduled to speak.
Same-sex “marriage,” like abortion, is not an “unresolved issue” for conservatives. As a response, TFP Student Action distributed 1,000 flyers titled, “Is Same-Sex “Marriage” an Unresolved Issue for American Conservatives?”
Here are the results of the student survey taken at CPAC:
1.How would you classify homosexual practice?
66% A grave sin against God
19% One lifestyle among many
15% Undecided
2. What is your opinion on same-sex marriage?
75% I strongly oppose it and/or think it should be illegal
12% I personally disagree with it, but think it should be legal
4% I support it and/or think it should be legal
9% Undecided
3. How do you think same-sex unions will affect the family in America?
75% It will destroy the concept of the family
19% It will neither help nor hurt the family
1% It will strengthen the family
5% Other
4. Would you say moral values in America are:
73% Declining
8% Improving
8% Stable
11% Undecided
5.Over the last fifty years, pornography, contraception, free love, abortion and homosexuality have changed from being taboo to mainstream. Do you see a connection between them?
9% No, they are isolated phenomena
77% Yes, they are connected moral evils
14% Undecided