Many L.G.B.T. conservatives say they feel newly relevant and accepted in the Republican Party, which has long opposed L.G.B.T. rights. And, perhaps counterintuitive, some attribute this in part to Trump himself. “The narrative on the left tends to be that Trump is horrible for L.G.B.T. people in every way imaginable, but that’s not how many gays on the right see it,” Benson told me. “As a candidate, Trump signaled that L.G.B.T.-related culture wars are not ones the G.O.P. needs to be fighting anymore, and much of the base noticed. As flawed as Trump is, and despite some of his unfortunate policy moves on this front, he might actually represent a fulcrum point within the party on gay issues.”

Some gay conservatives feel so emboldened, in fact, that they “shout about their love of the president and their L.G.B.T. identity from rooftops,” Angelo told me. (By “rooftops,” he mostly meant Twitter.) Standing in front of the Log Cabin booth at CPAC, next to a poster affirming the organization’s support for the Second Amendment, Angelo didn’t shout, but he did beam as he showed me a letter Trump wrote in 2017 congratulating the group on its 40th anniversary. Trump is the first sitting Republican president to publicly commend the organization.

What a difference three years can make.