Because he supports same sex marriage.  Or maybe he was never invited at all.  There’s some dispute.

Having an unpaid speaking gig (which I seldom do anymore) canceled is no hardship. And people are welcome to believe what they want to believe, and invite whom they want to speak — but as the GOP looks at why they’re viewed as intolerant, well, this kind of thing might be part of it. “Big tent” or teepee? Your choice.

But future inviters be warned: While I take a live-and-let-live view toward social conservatives, I’m not one myself. Take it or leave it.

The story gets fun and weird, however.  The Utah County GOP says that Reynolds was never officially invited.  What happened was an enthusiastic GOPer took it upon himself to invite Reynolds and purchase a plane ticket.

According to Bryan Schott:

So, who was this person who arranged for Reynolds to travel to Utah? Enter Utah Tea Party activist and former Gubernatorial candidate David Kirkham into the story.

Kirkham’s sister, Bonnie Morrow, is the vice chair of the Utah County GOP. He says she reached out and asked him to find someone to speak at the dinner. He was able to get hold of Reynolds and convinced him to waive his honorarium. He also purchased a plane ticket for Reynolds’ travel to Utah.

Fast forward to this past weekend. Kirkham says there were some within the party who were upset that Reynolds was coming because of his support for gay rights.

“I was told this had to go to the Executive Committee to be approved. Word got back to me over the weekend that they didn’t want Mr. Reynolds here because he was ‘pro gay’ and that was too controversial for them.”

I feel like I should have an appropriately snarky comment but truth be told it’s a perfect example of what happens when over-enthusiastic people get ahead of everyone else.

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