Reject Hate
Decent and sensible people recognize it.
Leading Republicans in Colorado – county chairs and other Republican officials and candidates – are calling upon the chair of the state Party, Dave Williams, to resign or face recall. As I noted in my previous post on June 7, Williams raised a furor on June 3 with a mass email message from the Party that proclaimed “God Hates Pride” and followed up later that day with a post from the Party’s X account that called on people to “Burn all the pride flags this June.” Although other issues had already motivated some to oppose Williams, the hate that Williams spewed was a tipping point.
Below, for example, is the response of the Chaffee Republican Party, in the form of a letter to the editor from its secretary that the Ark Valley Voice posted today:
Dear Editor,
The Chaffee County Republicans are appalled by and vehemently disagree with State GOP Chairman Dave Williams’ email and subsequent statements last week about God hating Flags and calling the LGBTQ community in Colorado slurs and names. His statements are hateful and do not represent the views of the Republicans of Chaffee County. The Chaffee County Republican Central Committee does not condemn anyone because of their lifestyle or who they love. State Chairman Williams’ statements do not reflect those of Chaffee County, and most Colorado Republicans.
The members of the Executive Board and our local Chair, David Williams (unfortunate same name, not the same man) are joining the call statewide for GOP Chairman Williams to resign and have joined the call for a special session to vote him out. Republicans do not stand for hate, exclusion, and the statements Williams doubled down on are not good for Colorado or for our Country.
Our Party stands for Faith, Families, and Freedom. We do not tolerate hate, violence, or exclusion of anyone because of skin color, race, or lifestyle preferences. We invite anyone who would like to discuss this with a member of our executive team to reach out. Let’s have coffee and continue to love and support this amazing community we have here. Please email chair@chaffeecogop.org, or secretary@chaffeecogop.org, if you’d like to address concerns with us.
Jennifer Barker
Secretary
Chaffee County Republican Central Committee
Secretary@chaffeecogop.org
I salute these county parties and Republican leaders for standing up against the hate from within their own Party and lament that so many have declined to do so. In this latter category is the current representative of House District 39, Brandi Bradley. In a post last night on X, she said in part:
I want to talk about this week’s email from Dave Williams, Chair of the Colorado Republican Party. As you may know, Dave is not just the leader of my party - he’s a personal friend. While I can understand why the subject line of Dave’s email got some attention, I urge everyone to read what he wrote. Because while I might have addressed the topic a little differently, I think he’s right.
More and more people, on the right and on the left, are deeply concerned about the turn that Pride has taken in recent years. No longer a day of parades urging equal rights for gay and lesbian people, Pride has become a weeks-long celebration of trans ideology and fetishism.
People operating in good faith absolutely can disagree about such contentious issues as transgender participation in school sports or parental notification with respect to a student’s transgender self-identification. Someone who holds a view contrary to one’s own is not necessarily a villain.
I agree with a former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, Dick Wadhams. In an article that it published today, Colorado Public Radio reported that “Wadhams believes there is legitimate debate to be had about how some schools handle transgender issues and parents rights.”
I respect Congressional District 1 candidate Valdamar Archuleta, who stated that he has been “an avid critic of where celebration of Pride has gone in recent years” and is a “firm supporter of protecting children from environments and entertainments that are of an adult nature.”
Both of them agree with me that the email from Williams “went too far and is just hateful” (Archuleta) and that is it “divisive and hateful” (Wadhams).
Rep. Bradley, unfortunately, does not recognize the hatefulness for what it is. Instead, she justifies what Williams wrote as simply the poor expression of what she herself believes.
The decent and sensible people of House District 39 deserve better.