Several high profile conservatives have spoken out on gay marriage over the last week. Television host Glenn Beck, conservative author and speaker Ann Coulter and “The View” co-host Elizabeth Hassleback have all made headlines this week for their support of gay people or gay issues.

Coulter, a conservative writer and television personality, was blasted by the website World Net Daily (WND) because of plans to speak to GOProud, a gay Republican group, at their “Homocon” event in September.

WND also canceled Coulter’s planned keynote address at its “Taking America Back National Conference” taking place next month.

Joseph Farah, editor of WND, addressed the controversy on his website:

"Ultimately, as a matter of principle, it would not make sense for us to have Ann speak to a conference about 'taking America back' when she clearly does not recognize that the ideals to be espoused there simply do not include the radical and very 'unconservative' agenda represented by GOProud. The drift of the conservative movement to a brand of materialistic libertarianism is one of the main reasons we planned this conference from the beginning."

Coulter has gone on the record a number of times stating her opposition to gay marriage and even went as far as to call former Sen. John Edwards a “faggot” during a speech to the American Conservative Union in 2007.

Still, the fact that she’s willing to speak to a gay GOP group speaks volumes. I doubt we would have seen anything like that five or six years ago.

During a recent appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor,” conservative talk show host Glenn Beck all but came out in support of gay marriage. When asked whether he thought gay marriage would “harm” the country, Beck responded:

“I believe that Thomas Jefferson said: ‘If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket what difference is it to me?’"

Beck has compared same-sex marriages to polyamorous marriage and polygamy before, so his comments are surprising. You can’t say that he was advocating same-sex marriage, he wasn’t, but he did seem to indicate that it was an issue with which he had little interest in fighting.

Elizabeth Hassleback, co-host of “The View,” came out in support of gay marriage this week during an interview with Fancast.com.

“I am not ultra-ultra-conservative on every issue. I actually support gay marriage.”

It’s kind of hard to be anti-gay when you’re in show business. Imagine what her hair and make-up people would do to her if she said otherwise. Hassleback can be as crazy as a loon and that’s what makes her support so powerful.

Three very high profile conservative figures supporting the LGBT community in some shape or fashion… now that’s a strange, but welcome, twist in the debate.

Top photo: Ann Coulter is scheduled to speak at 'Homocon' hosted by GOProud in September (photo via anncoulter.com)