'Burn all the Pride flags': Colorado GOP sends 'disgusting' email bashing LGBTQ+ community

Since June 1, the Colorado Republican Party has been busy flooding its social media channels with anti-LGBTQ+ messaging. Now, even other Republicans are distancing themselves from the Colorado GOP.

Denver NBC affiliate 9News recently reported on an email the Centennial State's Republican Party wrote to supporters, which was headlined with the subject "God hates Pride." In the message, Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave Williams wrote that June — which is traditionally celebrated as LGBTQ+ Pride month — is a month in which "the godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children."

A graphic in the email showed an image that read "God hates flags," which is a reference to the virulently anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Westboro Baptist Church. And a post to the Colorado Republican Party's official X (formerly Twitter) account shows a fire emoji with the text "burn all the #Pride flags this June." The post is still up as of Tuesday afternoon.

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9News' Kyle Clark further reported that Valdamar Archuleta, who is presumed to win the GOP primary for Colorado's 1st Congressional District (which encompasses the solidly liberal city of Denver), has officially rejected the party's endorsement of his campaign in the wake of Williams' email. Archuleta is president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans, which is the LGBTQ+ faction of the GOP.

"I personally found it very troubling. I spoke with many LGBT and non LGBT Republicans yesterday who also found the message in the email disgusting and offensive.This email does NOT Represent the Republican voters of Colorado," Archuleta tweeted. "On Sunday, June 2nd, the State GOP released it’s full list of endorsements for this months State Primary. After giving it a lot of thought, reflecting on the email released yesterday, I can not accept the endorsement from the Colorado State GOP."

In a statement to 9News, Williams said the state GOP will continue to support Archuleta's campaign against Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado), who is running for a 15th term this November, despite his rejection of their endorsement.

"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.

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In a post quote-tweeting the "burn all #Pride flags" post from the Colorado GOP's account, Democratic state representative David Ortiz, who represents the community of Littleton, wrote that the Colorado Republican Party "has more in common with the Taliban than the founding fathers."

"LGBTQ folks served and serve in the military. We are cops, we are firefighters, we are your family members & neighbors," Ortiz tweeted. "We will outlast your bigotry and hate."

Colorado has one of the largest Pride festivals in the United States, with Denver's 2024 Pride weekend expected to bring in more than 500,000 participants between June 22 and June 23. This is stark contrast to the Centennial State's recent past as a "Mecca for Evangelical Christians" in a 2005 NPR report about the city of Colorado Springs — roughly an hour south of Denver.

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Click here to read Kyle Clark's full report for 9News.