COLORADO, USA — The Colorado Republican Party marked the start of Pride Month with a mass email attacking “godless groomers” and a social media post calling for the burning of all Pride flags.
The state GOP’s move to the far right after a series of electoral blowout losses continued with some of its harshest anti-gay rhetoric in recent years.
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.”
Valdamar Archuleta, president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans and a candidate for the heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District in Denver, renounced the GOP’s endorsement as a result.
“The morons running our state party made it extremely hard for some of us to accomplish our goals for Liberty,” Archuleta posted on X.
In a follow-up statement released Tuesday, Archuleta said he could not accept the endorsement of the Colorado Republican Party, calling the party’s email “just hateful” and “disgusting and offensive.”
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Williams told 9NEWS that Archuleta will still have the support of the state GOP.
“We make no apologies for opposing the woke Pride Month agenda as it ultimately harms children and undermines parents, but Archuleta is the presumptive nominee in an overwhelmingly Democrat heavy district, so we will of course continue to highlight his candidacy,” Williams said.
Last month, the Colorado GOP called for parents to pull all children from public schools, claiming Democrats use schools to “turn more kids trans.”
Williams has used the resources of the Colorado Republican Party to promote both his Christian faith and his candidacy for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District in a contested GOP primary. The state GOP has also attacked Williams’ primary opponent, Jeff Crank.
In 2023, Williams faced criticism for sending a holiday message telling Republicans to “give your life to Jesus Christ.”
Williams has brushed off calls for his resignation from fellow Republicans, saying that he is remaking the state party in the image of Donald Trump, who has endorsed Williams for Congress.
But Williams’ anti-gay rhetoric is out of step with Trump’s positions on LGBTQ issues.
As a state representative in 2020, Williams backed a failed effort to ban same-sex marriage in Colorado, a measure so extreme that it was not supported by Republican leaders in the statehouse and the Colorado Republican Party.
The Colorado GOP’s anti-gay insults and call to burn all Pride flags was met with immediate condemnation from Colorado Democrats.
“This type of vile hatred has come to define the Colorado GOP,” Democratic Party chairman Shad Murib posted on X. “It’s why we’re organizing up and down the ballot to beat them at all levels.”
Democratic State Rep. David Ortiz of Littleton, the first out bisexual legislator in state history, said the Colorado GOP has “more in common with the Taliban than the founding fathers.”
Ortiz served as an Army helicopter pilot in Afghanistan and was partially paralyzed in a helicopter crash in 2012.
“LGBTQ folks served and serve in the military. We are cops, we are firefighters, we are your family members and neighbors,” Ortiz wrote on X. “We will outlast your bigotry and hate.”
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