August 29, 2023 11:06 AM UTC

Dave Williams Keeps Doing (Not) His Job

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Colorado Republican Party has a very specific list of responsibilities for the State Republican Party Chairman, which include things like making a budget and hiring staff members. The bylaws of the State Republican Central Committee don’t explicitly include that the GOP Chair’s primary job is to help Republican candidates win elections, but this is something that is more or less implied.

(Of course, it is also implied that the REPUBLICAN Party Chairperson should be working for the REPUBLICAN Party, instead of, say, the Libertarian Party, but we digress…) 

Dave Williams has been serving as the head of the State GOP for about six months now, and most of his time has been spent on projects neither implicitly nor explicitly related to his actual job. As we have chronicled in this space, Williams spends much of his time attacking other Republicans; making excuses for why the State Party has no money; and fundraising to pay a soon-to-be disbarred John Eastman for directing a lawsuit that is almost certainly doomed to fail.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, then, that Williams has wandered off in yet another direction unrelated to his job as GOP Chair. Williams recently emerged as the Registered Agent for a new effort to pass a ballot measure banning gender reassignment surgeries for minors in Colorado:

The (ahem) “Let Kids be Kids” campaign seems to be a response to Senate Bill 188, which was approved by the Colorado legislature last Spring and signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis. Called the “Protections for Accessing Reproductive Health Care Act,” SB-188 protects access to reproductive health care and gender-affirming medical care. As Serena Sonoma wrote for GLAAD in April:

Meredith Gleitz, Policy Manager at One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans and their families, called the measure “critical” for transgender people to be able to fairly access what is often lifesaving health care.

“Research shows that gender-affirming care improves mental health and overall well-being for transgender people, and is recognized and endorsed by 29 leading medical organizations. In spite of its medical necessity and health benefits, access to gender-affirming care is being politically targeted, to the detriment of providers and patients – and attacks are intensifying,” she said.

“Colorado needs shield legislation to protect patients and providers from interstate political attacks and to prevent further obstacles to accessing critical health care.”

Across the country, 19 states have now passed laws banning gender-affirming care to some degree; according to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 1 in 3 transgender young people live in one of these states.

Initiatives like Williams’ proposal also help contribute to a rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ individuals. According to federal law enforcement statistics, 1 in 5 hate crimes now involve LGBTQ Americans.

There are no doubt plenty of right-wing Republicans in Colorado who would agree with a proposal to ban gender-affirming care for young people. However, polling shows that attempts to restrict LGBTQ health care options are absolutely NOT popular with a majority of voters nationwide. It’s a pretty fair guess that these numbers are even more lopsided in an increasingly-blue state like Colorado.

Regardless of anyone’s opinion on this issue, it’s not a great use of time for Dave Williams to be adding yet another thing to his plate that has nothing to do with his job as GOP Chairman. Every minute that Williams spends attacking LGBTQ Coloradans is another minute he is NOT spending on helping Republican candidates win elections in 2024.

On the other hand, perhaps winning elections is just no longer a priority for the Colorado Republican Party.