Colorado state Rep. Brandi Bradley, now doing double culture-war duty as the leader of the brand-new Douglas County chapter of Moms For Liberty (yes, those Moms For Liberty), has been on the clamorous frontlines of every conceivable wedge issue during her relatively short time in office, earning her a spot in the Colorado House Republican Minority’s “House Crazies” faction anchored by her friends Reps. Scott “There Is No” Bottoms and Rep. Ken “Skin” DeGraff. Rep. Bradley is also a close ally of embattled Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams, who took a paycheck from the state as an aide to Rep. Bradley despite hardly ever setting foot inside the building in the early days of his chairmanship.
This week, Rep. Bradley released audio from a conversation she appears to have surreptitiously recorded with a teacher over a discussion in Bradley’s kid’s history class that came too close in Bradley’s opinion to the dreaded subject of gender fluidity:
Here are the two clips of audio posted by Rep. Bradley of her confrontation with the teacher, which we’ve transcribed as best as we could:
Part one: pic.twitter.com/plYCNTk4yB
— Rep Brandi Bradley (@bradleyforco) August 22, 2024
Part 2 pic.twitter.com/e2LzhJaeRJ
— Rep Brandi Bradley (@bradleyforco) August 22, 2024
BRADLEY: I just have a question.
TEACHER: Sure!
BRADLEY: When my son came home and asked me Da Vinci was gender fluid and that the Mona Lisa was a depiction of his feminine side. And I just am trying to figure out…
TEACHER: Look, let me give you context of this. Yes. And so then watch the movie on Friday, it’s posted on there if you want to watch that. And they were talking about some of the scholars who said that he was probably gay or whatever, but that now these have been approved by Douglas County. These are, you know, videos that we can use. And one of the kids in the other class had asked me what that meant. And so what in bringing up for the class, the picture was a self-portrait, according to some scholars. Now I’ll give different, different sides of that. But the main purpose of this was to say the difference between the Middle Ages and then to the Renaissance. The Renaissance was self-expression of these artists. They weren’t limited or restricted by church and what the church was dictating they do. They had the opportunity to create however they wanted and express themselves fully.
BRADLEY Husband?: The Mona Lisa was an actual person that paid to have their portrait. That’s a fact… [Pols emphasis]
Since none of us were present in the 16th Century when the Mona Lisa was painted, it’s necessary to rely on the historical record in order to determine these things–and unfortunately for the individual we believe is Rep. Bradley’s husband in this recording, what he’s asserting as “fact” is indeed the subject of considerable debate. It’s not our intention to resolve that debate any more than it was the teachers’, but there’s simply no denying the persistent theory that the Mona Lisa was a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, who–nobody panic–may not have been 100% heterosexual.
TEACHER: Well, that’s a fairly that’s a that’s an argument. That’s one of the arguments. But I think the recent works are showing, and it was supposed to be like a lore but the recent scholars are saying that it was most likely a self-portrait, and they have some pictures of that with him. And they can go behind the things to see the structure of the film, the eyes, the, the actual features.
BRADLEY: I would like to see those videos that were approved because I, I don’t know that I want my 15 year old knowing what gender fluidity is. [Pols emphasis] I don’t I mean, our, we have a very Biblical worldview, and I see a lot of LGBTQ flags, and I wonder how inclusive my Christian conservative child fills in this room. So I’m just I’m having a hard time with walking into a room and and seeing LGBTQ everywhere. I’m wondering, you know, gender fluidity and and seeing a depiction of a man and hearing that this man that is a depiction of him as a woman, I don’t know.
TEACHER: I think that’s not really what it’s, is that all of us have a more masculine and feminine side. This was a self-portrait of him, how he may be perceived.
BRADLEY: I’ve in my life heard that story. And I’ve talked to world scholars in history. [Pols emphasis] I just I’m a little concerned that this is the first week of school and this is world history, or what’s going to be taught to my child. And as a parent, I have that ability to question that. I’m coming to respond without sending an email and and without any other parents around.
Rep. Bradley pretends to be approaching this teacher in confidence, but there’s no evidence that Bradley ever informed the teacher that their conversation was being recorded for public distribution. In Colorado that’s technically legal, but it’s hard to call it ethical behavior by a sitting lawmaker. As for a 15-year-old kid “knowing what gender fluidity is,” the only thing we can say is that in 2024, that horse has everywhere outside Russia left the barn a long time ago.
TEACHER: And I know I appreciate that, but when they come into this room, everybody is welcome. Every voice is heard or however they are, I accept them. I don’t care if the rich or poor or gay or straight or I.
BRADLEY Husband?: Do you have have a Christian flag, a portait of Jesus Christ?
BRADLEY: Ten Commandments in God we trust.
Full stop. Of course there is no Christian flag or portrait of Jesus on the wall of this public school classroom, since:
TEACHER: This is not religion. This is these are not religious. These are not religious symbols. [Pols emphasis]
Bradley Husband?: It just say the inclusivity. You include everybody.
TEACHER: But I talk about Christianity, okay. But the flag is just all kids.
BRADLEY: So you need four of them. You need four of them. Okay, okay. That’s good. That’s good to know.
To summarize, we have a sitting Colorado lawmaker confronting a public school teacher over a perfectly valid classroom conversation about competing historical theories, veering into a demand that high school history curriculum be censored to Rep. Bradley’s arbitrary liking, ending in questioning why religious symbols are not displayed in a public school classroom. And not content with this absurd interrogation that embarrasses the Bradley family much more than Douglas County Public Schools, Bradley apparently intends to escalate the bogus vitriol at back-to-school night tonight!
We apologize to everyone about to face Brandi Bradley’s almost perfectly misguided wrath.
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Brandi's kid has a 15-year-old history teacher?! Setting aside the obvious punctuation/grammar debacle, Brandi is a force to be reckoned with. The force of a fart in a windstorm.
Weren't all the Republicans told they should pull their kids from public schools?
And I'm uncertain if the fall-out of this little exposé foretells more misery for the teacher or for the 15-year-old student.