DENVER - On the heels of the Supreme Court upholding a key part of the Affordable Care Act and striking down more than a dozen states' bans on gay marriage, conservatives gathered in Denver to look to 2016.

The Western Conservative Summit was buzzing with the news as it kicked off Friday at the Denver Convention Center.

"Congratulations," someone said to Kenneth Wilkison, who was sitting at the event table the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation's largest and oldest gay and lesbian organization, are sharing with the state party.

"Thanks. Now we can focus on other things that matter," Wilkison responded.

He named a few conservative principles - such as a smaller, more efficient government - that brought together thousands for the sixth annual "Rally on the Right."

The Log Cabin Republicans were asked not to attend by the sponsors of the summit - Colorado Christian University - but were invited to share a table with the Colorado GOP.

"We were not trying to barge our way in here," said Wilkison, who has volunteered with the group for several years. "They have that right as a Christian organization, and we respect that. We just never should have been invited."

Brian Fleming, 40, from Centennial heard the event promoted on the radio and decided to come after hearing about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling opening the doors for gay marriage in all 50 states.

"I wanted to hear what other conservatives were thinking on the issue," Fleming said. "It's beyond party. What is our country going to do about this moral issue?"

Seven presidential hopefuls were expected to speak before the conference ends Sunday with a straw poll of participants for their GOP presidential nominee, but George Pataki canceled.

Friday brought former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, the 2012 Republican runner-up to Mitt Romney, to the stage. Pataki, the three-term governor of New York who was in office for the response to the 2001 terrorist attacks, was in the Friday lineup but canceled because he was ill.

The two are almost book-ends to the wide field of conservatives vying for the ticket in 2016.

Santorum is known for his stark social conservatism, and his thoughts on gay marriage have gotten him in trouble. Pataki, on the other hand, signed gay rights legislation into law in New York.

Also on Friday night, Rafael Cruz, who came from Cuba as an immigrant, shared the story of his son Ted Cruz growing up in Texas. Cruz is in the hunt for the GOP ticket, too.

Santorum took the stage fired up about the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage.

"That's a decision based on a lie," Santorum said. "That's a decision based on fundamental untruths."

He said he could outline his plans for a flat tax that would eliminate the IRS, or his plan to deregulate industry to create jobs and spark the economy, or to crack down on illegal immigration, but it would do no good if he can't protect stable American families - "men and women raising children in a home."

He says politicians have been "bullied into silence" on the issue of gay marriage and the real debate about the impact of gay marriage on the family hasn't even started.

It's a conversation that must come now, Santorum said.

"We're losing because we're not trying to win. We're trying to not offend," he said during his roughly 25-minute talk.

After his talk, Santorum said he'd reduce legal immigration by 25 percent by targeting programs that use a lottery to allow low-skilled workers from countries that historically aren't immigrants to the U.S.

"My question is why?" Santorum said, adding many of the countries are hostile to the U.S. "I don't think that's a very sound national security position."

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Contact Megan Schrader: 286-0644

Twitter @CapitolSchrader

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