Republican legislators addressed attendees of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network’s (CPAN) “Rally for Parent Rights” yesterday. The rally, which featured approximately 100 attendees, was in response to House Bill 23-1003, which would create a sixth through twelfth grade mental health assessment screening program administered by the state Department of Public Health & Environment. Republican legislators addressed vaccines, charter schools, LGBTQ issues, and what they saw as government overreach in regard to policies aimed at Colorado students.
“I’m a pissed off grandma,” said Rep. Lisa Frizell (R-Castle Rock). “I have two little granddaughters, and their parents deserve the right to make sure they go to the schools that they want them to, that they don’t have government mandates shoved down their throat, that they are not subject to vaccines that their parents don’t want them to have.”
Rep. Brandi Bradley (R-Littleton), who earlier this session sponsored legislation to limit transgender students to participating in sports according to their gender assigned at birth, also spoke out against vaccines.
“They force vaccinations that are killing our children,” she said.
The Center for Disease Control notes that the widespread dissemination of misinformation about vaccines injuring or killing children is a major public health risk that itself puts children at risk.
In addition to vaccines, legislators voiced support for charter schools.
“Our charter schools are the best in the country,” said Rep. Ron Weinberg (R-Loveland). “We should model public schools on them.”
Critics argue that the success touted by charter schools is often a result of selective enrollment practices that exclude students with intellectual disabilities. In 2021, complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights identified 29 Colorado charter schools that ask a question about disability status in their application.
Charter schools have also come under increasing scrutiny for their treatment of LGBTQ students. Monument Academy, an El Paso County Charter School, passed a proclamation opposing Colorado’s broad nondiscrimination and public accommodation ordinances last year. Such nondiscrimination laws were affirmed in the 2013 case of Coy Mathis, a 6 year old transgender girl who successfully sued Fountain Fort Carson School District 8 after she was denied access to the appropriate bathroom.
Like Bradley, Rep. Richard Holtorf (R-Akron), has also been a vocal critic of LGBTQ people. “I’ll tell you, there are some godless heathens in this country,” he said, echoing his sentiment from Tuesday’s anti-abortion rally. “They don’t want you to raise your kids. They want to start promoting transgenderism in first, second, and third grade. That is not what we want as parents or grandparents. They want to take your rights away so your kids can do what they want at 12, 13, 14, 15, and go into that tunnel and get lost, and the state is going to help them because the state can solve everything. We know better, right? Parents need to be in first position with their kids.”
Holtorf claimed that the increase in the presence of LGBTQ youth in public schools is a result of indoctrination. “What goes on in this gold dome is the wrong public policy, and you must fight with every ounce of energy to correct the things that are wrong in state government,” he said. “The things that are coming out of California, this LGBTQ doctrine, this dogma that is getting pushed by three to five percent of the population on the rest of 95 or 97 to change your kids forever. Forever. To pollute their minds and make them go down a very dark place, and maybe never come out the same. Parents need to be a part of their kids’ journey.”
According to a 2012 study conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA Law, 40% of the 1.6 million young people who experience homelessness in the United States identify as LGBTQ.
CPAN, and other “parent rights” groups, like the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), often target LGBTQ students in their activism. Failed U.S. Senate candidate and radio host Deborah Flora was one of the featured speakers at yesterday’s rally. According to reporting from the Douglas County News-Press, during CPAN’s November, 2022 launch event, “Flora later railed against schools for supporting trans students and suggested schools were encouraging students to transition.”
Derrick Wilburn, host of the Conservative Daily podcast Uncle Tom Talks, was also a featured speaker, and during a September, 2022 event at Church For All Nations in Colorado Springs, told the crowd, “The majority of the community, that is not trans, especially in a Christian community like D20, should not be forced to acquiesce to something they don’t support.”
Ironically, Minority Leader Rep. Mike Lynch (R-Wellington) disagreed with Wilburn’s sentiment, complaining about the fact that Colorado voters overwhelmingly chose Democratic politicians during the last election. “It’s bad governance for us to have this bad of a majority,” said Lynch.
Rep. Anthony Hartsook (R-Parker) also mentioned the problems posed by the Democratic supermajority in the legislature. “We’re outnumbered two to one, but that does not mean we acquiesce one inch,” he said. “We fight — we negotiate, but we fight — and we’ve lost a lot, but fought and we’ve gained some concessions.”
Other speakers at Thursday’s rally included Valdamar Archuleta, President of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans; Biff Gore, Colorado Christian University Trustee, and perennial GOP candidate Greg Lopez.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story identified Biff Gore as “Biff Lee,” and incorrectly identified him as president of Colorado Right to Life. We regret the error.
