UPDATE: 9NEWS’ Kyle Clark with an interesting take on the DougCo PrideFest protesters, noting that they’re meddling in other people’s parenting just like they accuse the government of doing:
—–
Denver7’s Micah Smith reports on an ugly but predictable episode Saturday afternoon at the scene of conservative exurban Douglas County’s PrideFest celebration–an event that went forward with an extra heaping of political controversy after local elected officials very publicly questioned the endeavor:
Douglas County PrideFest attendees and volunteers are sharing details surrounding Saturday’s Pride celebrations that were interrupted by more than 60 protesters at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
“I received an email from someone outlining [a group’s] intentions on coming into our show,” Art Kerkezian, co-chair of Douglas County PrideFest said. “The drag show and the drag queens have always been the target.”
The group blocked a drag show performance and wore shirts that read “STAND TO PROTECT CHILDREN.”
Colorado Community Media via the DougCo News-Press:
Though the promises of a family-friendly drag show at PrideFest came true, about two dozen protesters stood outside the event, with some shouting messages on a bullhorn such as: “Why would you bring your children here to be groomed and assaulted by a bunch of queers?”
After two people walked up in opposition to one of the protest crowds — which gathered on behalf of Patriot Front, according to those with PrideFest — law enforcement escorted the two men away from the crowd, apparently without incident. (Patriot Front is a White supremacist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League. A person with that crowd told a Colorado Community Media reporter not to approach them.)
Saturday’s PrideFest event in Castle Rock was well-attended despite the gauntlet of far-right protesters attendees had to pass through, followed by the prolonged disruption of the event’s “G-rated” drag show by dozens of protesters wearing “STAND TO PROTECT CHILDREN” T-shirts. Denver7:
Eli Bazan, the founder of the Parasol Patrol, an organization that uses colorful umbrellas to shield kids from protesters, said volunteering at this year’s event was intense.
“This was the most hate that we’ve encountered in Colorado since 2019,” Bazan said. [Pols emphasis] “We did a lot of planning in the lead-up. We had lots of security meetings with volunteers and the head of security. We had agreed on several areas that need to be followed for security … And it seems that on the day of, none of those plans came to fruition.”
Colorado Community Media reports that at least some of the heightened tensions at this year’s event can be attributed to local Republican elected officials:
A call for volunteer security for PrideFest ahead of the event had elicited criticism from Douglas County Commissioner George Teal, one of the county’s elected leaders, earlier in the week. He described the call as seeking “some variety of vigilante security.”
Teal, in an Aug. 22 meeting of county officials, also referred to “the advocates of PrideFest” as “advocating vigilante violence, it sounds like.”
The “vigilante security” Teal was referring to is the Parasol Patrol, an organization that has provided ad-hoc security for LGBTQ+ events in the Denver area for several years. No one has ever accused Parasol Patrol of any kind of violence or vigilantism, unlike the Proud Boys and other militia types who showed up intending to disrupt the event. Even Commissioner George Teal’s Republican colleague Lora Thomas (though they don’t get along) acknowledged that the only issue Saturday was the right-wing agitators:
The only distraction at the Drag Show in @douglascountyco was this group of guys who displayed T-shirts that said “Stand to protect children” and stopped the show. They refused requests to move which caused the show to be 45 minutes late.
Otherwise the show was entertaining… pic.twitter.com/8wvsBUQmAP
— Lora Thomas (@LoraThomasCO) August 27, 2023
The vigorous attempt at disruption of this weekend’s DougCo PrideFest took place on a bad weekend nationally for hate crimes, with another apparently race-based mass shooting in Florida. Political tension across the nation is very high right now with Donald Trump’s slow grind toward accountability inflaming his diehard supporters even as a majority of Americans strongly support it. The renewed intensity of this protest is consistent with the steady rise in bias-motivated crimes in recent years. At the same time, beleaguered Colorado Republicans under their repellently radical new leadership are fuming in impotent rage over the state’s seemingly unshakeable Democratic majority politics.
It took this village of factors to produce the steaming, toxic stew of hateful reaction that took place Saturday in Castle Rock. While we remain optimistic about the long moral arc of history, there’s unfortunately a possibility of much more ugliness–and much worse–in the short run as we relitigate the “culture wars” Republicans have been losing for generations one more time.
Until then, support your local Parasol Patrol.
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To add to this, who in their right mind wants to look at these ugly fucks?
Kyle Clark has a point about co-parenting, but it's not the worst point. The militia presence plus all or mostly male white-shirt protesters certainly had to cast a pall of intimidation over the event. It's the kind of atmosphere that might contribute to the next Matthew Shepard, but won't stop gayness if that's really their intent.
I wonder how many of these manly men doing manly things with other manly men are "wide-stance conservatives"?
BTW, wasn't "Stand to Protect Children" Anita Bryant's sales pitch back in 1978 when she went on her gay bashing jihad?
No, Anita was gonna “Save the Children.” Her crusade hasn’t worked out well for her family relationships, as her bisexual granddaughter ponders whether to invite Anita to the wedding.
Ah, yes, that was it! "Save the Children!" Thank you!
I hadn't heard of the Parasol Patrol before. They sound awesome!
It sounds like an offshoot of Angel Action as seen at the trial of the creeps who killed Mattew Shepherd. Members of the Laramie gay community who wore white robes and tall, wide wings to shield the trial audience from the people who came to support the defendants.
I would point out the lack of wedding rings on these traditional men very interested about childrens development.
No takers. Shocker!
A few observations from this event.
IMO the most important and as yet unreported story from this event was the two different groups. You had the Patriot Front goons at a good distance from the event site with their bullhorns, taunts, and vulgar homophobic signs and chants. A small cadre of hateful militant wannabe fascist goobers.
The “Stand Up” group was actually the more concerning to me. They were organized by, and taking instructions on their iwatches and phones, by Jimmy Graham the operator of “Able Shepherd” and likely were all members of that paramilitary christian nationalist militia group. (The website is scary/informative.) That group has ties in Castle Rock to the usual suspect wackos (right-wing christian nationalist evangelical churches, George Teal, Patrick Neville, RMGO, Centennial Gun Club, Councilman Tim Dietz, . . .). It’s that organization, discipline and training that makes them potentially more dangerous and far more concerning.
However, at this event, other than standing to block views of the stage and taking videos of the crowd for about 40 minutes, these men were remarkably disciplined and well behaved. They had their attorney on site to talk with the police/sheriffs. They stood silently and did not taunt or engage with the crowd in any other disruptive manner. If someone wanted to move through their lines, they parted to allow that, whenever asked.
The back of their shirts all had in red lettering, “Jesus loves you (and so do I).”
It was passive aggressive intimidation, and probably a hopeful attempt to bait and provoke the attending crowd into reacting inappropriately and violently.
I was very surprised that firearms were not prohibited at the event. There were signs at the entry warning against brandishing firearms, but firearms were not prohibited from the site. There were no metal detectors or wands. (I did not see anyone with a firearm, or anyone whose concealed pistol was visibly printing through their clothing.)