Conservative gay group GOProud now supports marriage equality

 During the last election, GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia called gay marriage a "distraction" issue as he made the media rounds pumping the group's support for Mitt Romney.

Now, however, GOProud has officially announced it's support for marriage equality.  Buzzfeed reports:

"We support same-sex marriage, civil marriage," GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia said.

The move follows a decision by the GOProud board earlier this month to expand the group's mission to include state-level work. It also comes after, LaSalvia noted, the re-election of a president who supports same-sex couples' marriage rights, while some in the Republican Party are urging their party to reassess their position on the issue.

Since its founding in 2009, GOProud has always opposed the federal Defense of Marriage Act, calling the law a "federal power grab," but it avoided the underlying issue of marriage rights. In the course of a 285-word statement provided to BuzzFeed on "marriage and relationship recognition" being released publicly Friday, though, the group declares, "Where civil marriage is possible, we support civil marriage."

Read GOProud's full press release.