This year's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., will feature speeches by no less than 10 potential Republican presidential candidates, legions of young activists who will arrive from around the country to network and seek inspiration, and massive media attention befitting its location in the center of the political journalism universe.

But when the three-day annual gathering of conservative activists and interest groups kicks off on Thursday, one lesser-known organization will generate some outsized attention.

GOProud, a group that advocates for gay conservatives and their supporters, is cosponsoring this year's conference. Socially conservative groups including the Family Research Council and Liberty Counsel have spoken out against GOProud's participation and are among several organizations that will not have a presence at CPAC after having accused the event of driving a wedge through the conservative movement by promoting small-government economic principles while de-emphasizing moral values.

GOProud Board Chairman Chris Barron said that despite the protests, his group has received an overwhelmingly positive response from other conservative activists who are planning to attend CPAC and that the mainstream media has overhyped the "boycott" by a small number of organizations.

"The truth is that it's five boycotters and 10,000 people who are attending the conference, so we're celebrating the 10,000 people and not the five who are boycotting," Barron said. "It would be a little like us announcing we were boycotting the DNC, even though we never participating in it. Most of the organizations speaking out weren't CPAC sponsors last year, so who the hell cares if they're boycotting, quite frankly?"

GOProud plans to set up a booth inside the conference, and its members will hand out literature and speak with attendees, as is typical of these events. But its signature mark on the conference will be the party the group is hosting on Thursday night with conservative media titan Andrew Breitbart, who has been an outspoken supporter of GOProud and its participation at CPAC.

Formed in 2009, GOProud espouses small-government economic views and favors a robust national security apparatus, but its advocacy for the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the U.S. military has drawn fire recently from social conservatives.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a likely Republican presidential candidate who is scheduled to speak at CPAC on Friday, fell under withering criticism from the group when he called for taking steps to try to block the repeal during a recent visit to Iowa.

Asked about why he had singled out Pawlenty in his previous criticism, Barron did not back down an inch.

"He doesn't hold the same standing as leaders like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, or Herman Cain. That's just the truth," Barron said. "If you held two competing parties among movement conservatives -- one for Tim Pawlenty and one for Herman Cain -- there'd be ten times as many people at the Herman Cain party."

In a recent interview with the Christian Broadcast Network, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who declined an invitation to speak at CPAC, defended GOProud's participation in the conference.

"I look at participation in an event like CPAC, or any other event... in that same vein as the more information that people have, the better," Palin said.

The American Principles Project, which has called on conservative groups to boycott CPAC, responded to Palin in a press release on Monday by calling on her to "clarify her remarks."

The Heritage Foundation is one of the most prominent conservative groups that plans to avoid this year's CPAC amid the controversy. A spokesman for the Washington think tank said that his organization has concerns about CPAC's dedication to promoting the coalition among economic, social, and national security conservatives.

"You can chose to care more about one of those three issues than the other two -- that's fine," said Heritage's VP of communications Mike Gonzalez. "But once you decide to go against any one of them, we have a problem."

Gonzalez said that Heritage's decision not to attend this year's CPAC "was not in response to any one event," and he took umbrage with the generally held assmption that CPAC is the most important annual gathering among the conservative grassroots.

Gonzalez added that Heritage could attend CPAC in future years but stressed that the group lends its presence to many other events to promote the conservative cause.

"There's a lack of clarity -- we're confused about what CPAC is about," he said. "We hope that CPAC begins to more clearly define which principles it wishes to promote."

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