The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Grover Norquist is a conservative hit man who has absolutely no values other than helping the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. So it was an interesting move last month to put him on the board of GOProud, the newer gay and lesbian Republican org - the message that I got, at least, was that there are famous figures on the right that care more about advancing the conservative agenda of tax breaks and deregulation than they do about social issues. Considering some of Norquist's other activities, that message should not be confused with the idea that he's a famous rightwinger who's actively pro-gay and conservative.

It's the basic division between "tolerance" and "acceptance," and GOProud chooses "tolerance."

Norquist is also an advisor to the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, a group that tries to use abortion and gay rights as wedge issues to get latinos to vote for Republicans, set up by the American Principles Project. This past week, the LPCP announced that they'd be conducting a $1 million independent expenditure (spending money for her without coordinating with the campaign itself) for California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina.

A few wondered where that money's coming from, considering how new the LPCP is, and they announced their two partners: the Susan B. Anthony List (who'll be donating $100K) and the National Organization for Marriage, who'll be donating an unknown amount of money, but I'd guess the bulk of the million dollars will be coming from them.

It's interesting, because the LPCP got some heat proposing Republicans enact what conservatives call "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants to get more latinos into the fold, something their parent group, the American Principles Project (founded by NOM co-founder Robert P. George), would probably oppose considering this drivel on their site. NOM exists for nothing other than opposing same-sex marriage on the right and GOProud says that they're the pro-gay GOP group, with their gay rights advocacy usually limited to the more conservative projects of marriage and DADT repeal.

And they're all able to work together like a big, happy family. If only the left could do the same.

Or, more likely, the organizing principle is helping the rich get richer, and everything else is just filler. NOM gets the religious right involved and donating to Republican candidates, GOProud puts a happy face on the GOP for gay voters whose minds need to be put at ease; the LPCP shows that people within the party are advocating for a saner approach to immigration (the party itself never will), while the racists are still attracted to the party's central "get the Mexicans out" message.

It seems appropriate for Grover Norquist to be at the center of this story, since he famously said he wants to "reduce [the government] to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." Everyone he works with, including GOProud, is just a tool to reach that goal.