June 07, 2024 10:37 AM UTC

Words Matter: Anti-LGBTQ Rhetoric Starts New Call for Resignation of State Party Chairman

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?

 

Post by @kyleclark9news

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The Colorado Republican Party as we know it ended its life on May 21, 2024 when it issued a call to all Republicans to withdraw their children from public schools on account of a bonkers belief that teachers and administrators across the state are trying to “transgender” innocent children. This call was the extension of a years-long conspiracy theory — one that is COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED but promoted extensively by failed 2022 gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl — that children in Colorado schools are being allowed to dress up as “furries” and spend the school day pretending to be cats.

It is beyond ridiculous for the Colorado Republican Party to insist that Republicans remove their children from public schools. But just in case that wasn’t enough to convince rational Republicans to abandon the State GOP, the Party this week decided to attack all LGBTQ Coloradans. As 9News reported:

The Colorado GOP’s mass email titled “God Hates Pride,” read, in part, “The month of June has arrived and, once again, the godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children.”

The message to Colorado Republicans was headlined with an image reading “God Hates Flags,” a nod to the anti-gay slur on the picket signs of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.

The party’s message was signed by chairman Dave Williams. A post from the Colorado Republican Party on X, formerly Twitter, read simply, “Burn all the #pride flags this June.”

After what we described as “muffled condemnation” of these recent messages from the State GOP, the backlash is starting to rise.

The Jefferson County Republican Party is today calling on State GOP Chair Dave Williams to resign and suggesting that more such demands are on the way:

Clark is rightly suspicious that such a widespread rebuke of Williams will actually happen. After all, Williams has been systematically destroying the State Republican Party for more than a year now — and is now robbing them in front of their eyes — while other Republicans have done little more than grumble. There is reason to believe that we might have reached a tipping point, however.

The GOP’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has created national headlines. Aurora City Councilman Curtis Gardner — one of the few Republicans left in office in large municipalities — has publicly left the Republican Party because of the recent hateful messaging. And Republican Party officials, like those in Jeffco, are probably getting nervous because it appears that people might actually be heeding the call to “burn all the #pride flags.” As Fox 31 reports from Arvada:

A widespread Republican revolt against the leadership of Williams would be a nice start, but the GOP needs to do more than just condemn one man. As disgusting as it may be, this anti-LGBTQ and anti-public schools rhetoric serves a purpose: To turn out the far-right base of voters that State Party favorites need in order to succeed in the June 25th Primary Elections. Sadly, this kind of public hate helps candidates like Williams, who is also running for Congress in CO-05, as well as State Party-endorsed candidates such as Ron Hanks (CO-03) and Lauren Boebert (CO-04). It’s not an accident.

For years Republicans have tolerated this sort of hate speech. At best, they ignore it. At worst, they hand out awards to people who parrot the hostility. 

Lindsay Datko, the nutball founder of “Jeffco Kids First,” received the “Defenders of the Declaration” award from the GOP-aligned “Leadership Program of the Rockies” in 2023 for promoting the absurd idea that “furries” were infiltrating Jefferson County schools. “Jeffco Kids First” is now promoting an August fundraising event — with Riley Gaines, the former competitive swimmer turned anti-trans activist — that the group says will help “fund ongoing legal action and advice” as they try to win a doomed libel suit against Colorado Community Media (which reported on Datko’s group and their furry madness). What has the Jefferson County Republican Party said about this? Not a damn thing. 

What about State Representatives Scott “There is No” Bottoms and Ken “Dildo” DeGraff of Colorado Springs, both of whom regularly vomit out hate speech and accuse Democrats of being pedophiles? Is anybody going to ask them to stop?

How about State Rep. Brandi Bradley of Littleton, who is a fervent anti-trans hatemonger and even encourages death threats against Democratic lawmakers? Crickets.

State GOP Chairman Dave Williams is definitely a disaster, but he’s not the problem for the Republican Party. Williams knows that there is an AUDIENCE for messages about abandoning public schools and burning Pride flags; that audience exists because other Republicans either agree with the hate speech or are unwilling to do anything about it.

If you’re not sure about where to stand, look around and see who else is standing next to you. If people like Williams, Bottoms, DeGraaf, Bradley, Ganahl, Datko and many others are on your side of the room and you don’t try to be somewhere else…then you’re part of the problem, too.