City leader changes party affiliation after Colorado GOP comments

AURORA, Colo. — Aurora City Councilman Curtis Gardner changed his party affiliation from Republican to Unaffiliated on Wednesday night, following the Colorado Republican Party chairman’s homophobic comments on Pride month.

He posted a critique of the Colorado GOP and chairman Dave Williams on social media saying, “The Republican Party, and specifically the Colorado GOP, no longer stands for the issues that I care about.”

He listed those issues as “individual rights, restraint of government, limited foreign intervention, and encouraging economic mobility.”

His social media post did not say he switched party affiliation.

Gardner confirmed in a phone call with 9NEWS political reporter Marshall Zelinger on Thursday that he switched party affiliation.

Earlier this week, Williams sent out a mass email on behalf of the Colorado GOP, attacking “godless groomers” and in a social media post, called for the burning of all Pride flags.

The Colorado GOP’s mass email titled “God Hates Pride,” read, in part, “The month of June has arrived and, once again, the godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children.”

The message to Colorado Republicans was headlined with an image reading “God Hates Flags,” a nod to the anti-gay slur on the picket signs of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.

The party’s message was signed by Chairman Dave Williams. A post from the Colorado Republican Party on X, formerly Twitter, read simply, “Burn all the #pride flags this June.”

In his social media post, Gardner said, “To be clear, God hates no one – not those in the LGBTQ+ community and not Dave Williams. These hateful comments are despicable. I will always choose love – I care less about how you vote than I care about how you treat those who vote differently than you do.”

This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.

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