The Anti-LGBTQ Movement: News Miner 11

Notes on the anti-LGBTQ movement, Heidi Ganahl, the Loveland police, Brianna Titone, and more.

Welcome to my latest “News Miner.” See also my articles and podcasts at Self in Society.

The Authoritarian Anti-LGBTQ Movement

Although I have concerns about medical treatments for some children who might just be confused about their gender, I also recognize that the conservative anti-LGBTQ movement has in many ways become authoritarian.

Consider this story from the AP:

Authorities arrested 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. . . .

All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, [Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee] White said. The men were going through the booking process Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, he said. Three of the men charged are from Colorado.

Here is another story as reported by the Colorado Sun:

A Highlands Ranch group called the Freedom Fathers is protesting a comedy show that will be hosted by two drag performers June 17 at the Southridge Recreation Center. The Freedom Fathers claim the event grooms and sexualizes children, even though tickets were restricted to adults 21 and older. . . .

In a video on the Freedom Fathers’ Facebook page, Aaron Wood railed against the show being hosted at a rec center, and in a Freedom Fathers’ email newsletter, Wood said the goal of the prayer rally is to cancel the show and prevent future drag events in Highlands Ranch.

In other news. . . Recently Candice Owens said parents who take their kids to “drag queen story hour” deserve to have their children forcibly taken by the state. Such conservatives believe in “parental rights” so long as parents bend to “conservative” ideology.

Over at Self in Society I wrote about the “‘groomer’ panic” and the tendency of some conservatives to demonize the LGBTQ community. This is a very dangerous trend.

Ganahl Speaks

Candidate for governor Heidi Ganahl, who has refused to grant an interview to 9News, did agree to a lengthy interview with Colorado Public Radio (which leans harder to the left than 9News). I’ll hit a few highlights.

Ganahl would outlaw almost all abortions, most of which occur in the first trimester. However, she would allow “exceptions for rape, incest, health of the mother and health of the fetus.” Remarkably, that stance puts her on the relatively tolerant side of modern conservative thought on the matter. At Self in Society I argue that people have a right to get an abortion in almost every case.

Ganahl has a distant link to John Eastman, a leading lawyer in promoting Trump’s “stolen election” lies who asked for a pardon for his role. While Ganahl was regent of the University of Colorado, CU’s Benson Center hired Eastman. Ganahl says, “I've never met Mr. Eastman. I've never talked to him. I was not involved in his hiring; We are not involved in their hiring, as regents.”

Ganahl concedes, “Joe Biden is our president,” but that’s hardly a bold statement. To my knowledge, she has never forthrightly stated that Biden won the election fair and square and that Trump’s claims to the contrary are bullshit. At least in this interview she does not contradict interviewer Ryan Warner’s characterization of Trump’s claims about the election as false.

Loveland Police

Following is the Colorado Sun’s June 17 summary of a New York Times report:

Father of a 14-year-old girl who was arrested after slapping a boy files excessive-force lawsuit against Loveland police officers. The boy declined to press charges but the three officers still arrested the girl. The lawsuit claims the police slammed the 14-year-old onto concrete, fired a taser at the father and choked the family’s Jack Russell terrier.

9News reports (with video),

The lawsuit says the officer's efforts to restrain her caused her head to hit surrounding concrete and brick more than once. She suffered a concussion, cuts, scrapes, bruises and injuries to her wrists during the arrest, the lawsuit claims.

Is it not obvious that slamming a girl to the concrete is wildly disproportionate, and indeed radically worse, than the alleged initial offense?

Earlier this year a Loveland officer was sentenced to five years in prison for aggressively tackling an elderly woman who had dementia, over a minor shoplifting offense. Let’s hope the district attorney takes a close look at the case in hand too.

Titone

Brianna Titone is one of Colorado’s more-interesting state legislators. I believe she’s the only state representative with a science background, outside of medical fields. She’s also one of the nation’s few transgender government officials. Recently she did a Reddit AMA. She said:

I’m a curious person. I'm pretty good at lots of stuff. Many people ask me, “what are you not good at” and I say, “I'll let you know when I find out.” I was a volunteer firefighter in high school and college, had a late night show on college radio, received multiple degrees in Physics, Geology, Geochemistry, and Information Communication Technology. I'm an occasional SCUBA diver, rock climber, one-time trail marathon runner, and a student pilot. I've worked in the environmental cleanup field as a licensed professional Geologist, as a consultant in the mining industry traveling all over the world, and still work as a one woman full stack web developer (hack) prior to being elected as a legislator. I’m a pretty good baker and I have around 25 orchids blooming at home.

I never thought of myself as a legislator, but now that I'm doing it, I love it. It's a challenging learning experience where I also get to make a real difference in people's lives and help craft solid policies. As one of eight openly elected trans people across the country, I have become an inspirational figure to many, especially youth, who look up to my position as an aspirational career choice.

Someone asked (rather unfairly, I thought): “Do you really think it should matter that you’re trans? Shouldn’t you’re views and policies be what’s important rather than identity check marks?” Titone replied:

That’s exactly why I was elected—because of my views and policies. I’ve never run on being a trans person. I couldn’t have won if I ran on being trans, especially in a district that leans toward the opposite party. I ran on the issues and on what I heard from the people. To some people, me being trans is a positive, but the vast majority of people don't care as long as I do my job well, which I do. That’s why I’ve been re-elected. I am all about the issues when it comes to the people I represent, but I also have to use my platform and my identity to inspire people and advocate for the LGBTQ community.

I often disagree with Titone’s politics—and sometimes agree—yet I recognize her as a very hard-working and effective legislator.

Quick Takes

Tampon Shortage: If only someone had warned that price controls in the form of laws against “price gouging” exacerbate rather than alleviate shortages.

Education: Mailyn Salabarria, a Coloradan immigrant of Cuba, has joined Parents Defending Education as their “director of community engagement.” (I haven't read enough about the group to have an opinion about its work.)

Epps: Previously I have mentioned Elisabeth Epps, a candidate for Colorado state house. She has out a well-produced campaign ad. There’s also a group that is strongly attacking Epps; see the “Epps Lies” Twitter handle if you want to track that down. Just be aware that this is a highly partisan group out to make Epps look as bad as possible. I have not personally confirmed the information published by the group nor tracked down all the relevant context.