As if to prove Oscar Wilde’s observation that the truth is rarely pure and never simple, the hottest ticket at the Republican convention in Tampa this week was called “Homocon,” a party thrown by the gay conservative group GOProud. Hundreds packed into the Honey Pot nightclub in Tampa’s Ybor Cityfor the event, including such notables as anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist, MSNBC analyst S.E. Cupp and, ahem, Mark Foley. (Ann Coulter, who was advertised as a participant, was apparently a no-show though.)

The event aimed to show that the appeal of the conservative movement was broad and that gays need not have their politics determined by their sexuality.

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“Marriage is important,” GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia told the crowd. “But before you can get married, you have to have a date. And everyone knows you can’t get a date without a job.”

Republican convention goers danced and drank the night away in a club bathed in pink and blue lights while being served drinks by bartenders wearing “freedom is fabulous” t-shirts and watching male and female go-go dancers gyrate to tunes like Maron 5′s “Moves Like Jagger.”

One liberal journalist at the event sniffed to Examiner that while the event was “definitely very gay” she suspected that a majority present were not actually Republicans, saying most identified as libertarians instead.

Perhaps, but the mere fact that such an event could be held at a Republican convention and draw a crowd suggests that while the post-Tea Party GOP isn’t about to sanction gay marriage, it genuinely does cares first and foremost about shrinking and transforming government. The more socially conservative stuff can slide.

Or maybe they just appreciate an open bar.