Reject Bigotry

Today, in Parker Colorado’s Salisbury Park, Douglas County Pride will put on its annual PrideFest celebration. On its website, the organization presents this simple statement beneath the heading “What is PrideFest?”:

Join us and people from the area at Douglas County PrideFest, where inclusivity takes center stage. We invite everyone to come as they are, embrace their true selves, and feel the love and acceptance that they deserve.

Also today, as Colorado Community Media recently reported, the Stand in the Gap Initiative will demonstrate against the drag show element of the event. Last year, the founder of the Stand in the Gap Initiative, Jimmy Graham, mobilized dozens of demonstrators to disrupt the drag show. In doing so, he did not merely delay the performance; he and his team demonstrated that they neither love nor accept the community upon which they intruded.

And that, of course, is their prerogative. It’s a free country, after all. No one is under any legal obligation to love and accept others. 

We expect more, though, from those who hold public office.

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Which brings me to the current representative of House District 39. As a candidate in June 2022, she protested a drag show at the Highlands Ranch Community Center. In carrying a sign that read “It’s OK to take a stand for God,” she communicated her comfort in wielding religion as a cudgel against others whose convictions differ from hers.

Which is her prerogative. We expect more, though, from those who hold public office.

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In July 2023, the current representative of House District 39 used her official Facebook account to slur celebrants of Pride Month as “naked grown men grooming our children.” As I showed in a post on my website, her avatar at the time was a rendering of Christ on the cross – another instance of invoking religion to attack others.

We expect more from those who hold public office.

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This past June, the chair of the Colorado Republican Party, Dave Williams, used his partisan office to launch a campaign of hate against the LGBTQ community. As I noted June 7, he authorized a mass email that bore the subject line “God Hates Pride”and contained the slur that people who are LGBTQ are “godless groomers…[who] want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous.” Later that day, one of the Colorado Republican Party’s social media accounts put out a call to “Burn all the pride flags this June.”

As I noted June 11, the current representative of House District 39 defended Chair Williams. By contrast, as I noted in both my June 7 and June 11 posts, Republican leaders across the state have responded with revulsion to this ugly anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. This past July 21, the chair of the Douglas County Republican Party, Steve Peck, added his condemnation in a letter to the central committee of the Colorado Republican Party:

Dear SCC Members, 

You’re  all aware by now that a battle is brewing between State Party  leadership and the members of the SCC who have called for a meeting to  remove the Chairman. Many of you may remember that I supported Dave  Williams immediately after he announced his intention to run for chair  and endorsed him at the organizational meeting where he was elected.  Since then, my optimism has faded to concern and now to full opposition.  I serve as the chairman of the Douglas County Republicans, which has  given me a front row seat to witness the growing problems I’ll lay out  for you here. I have come to these positions slowly and with humility  and regret.

The  job of the state party is to grow the party, share our principles,  support Republican candidates, and win elections. Instead, the party has  suffered from a series of decisions that make it clear that the  Chairman does not have the ethics, strategy, or judgment required for  the job.

[...]

Judgment. The  decision to use the party email address to put a Christ-like figure  with red laser eyes in front of a trans flag and bold lettering that  reads “God hates flags” reduced our Maker and Creator to a political  tool while embarrassing the party.

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We need to change.

I agree with Chair Peck about Dave Williams. I implore voters of House District 39 to agree with me about our current member of the state House of Representatives. We need to change.