GOP congressman deluged with angry responses over Club Q tweet
Sunday afternoon U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) posted a tweet about the mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in his district and didn’t mention anything about the victims or that it was a crime of hate. He’s received so many angry responses he turned off responses.
Congressman Lamborn, first elected in 2006 after serving eight years in the state Senate, has a long history of anti-LGBTQ actions and a few racist ones as well.
“I am saddened to hear of the senseless loss of life in the shooting last night. Law enforcement and first responders are to be commended for their rapid response. All people should pray for the victims and their families,” Rep. Lamborn tweeted. He posted the exact same message to Facebook, and received similarly angry responses. Lamborn also issued the exact same statement as a press release.
Nothing in his tweet mentioned it was (even at that time) likely an anti-LGBTQ attack, nothing about the name of the nightclub, no support for the LGBTQ community in his district or across the country. Not even any mention that the patrons and not police were the ones who subdued the gunman.
His tweet doesn’t even mention it was a mass shooting and that it took place in his district. It was a tweet so generic it could be used for any shooting that takes place any night of the week anywhere in the country.
Many of the responses noted that Congressman Lamborn recently voted against a House bill to protect marriages of same-sex couples should the Supreme Court strike down rulings like Obergefell. Others noted he once called for PBS to be defunded after of a gay cartoon character’s wedding.
Michael Aaron, the publisher and editor of QSaltLake Magazine tweeted that Rep. Lamborn “co-sponsored the natl anti-drag story hour bill, sponsored a bill to defund PBS over a gay rat wedding, voted against Respect for Marriage bill, opposes gun control.”
Lamborn indeed is a co-sponsor of the “Stop the Sexualization of Children” bill, which falsely characterizes drag queen story hours across the country as “sexually-oriented events.”
Lamborn has a long anti-LGBTQ history. In 2012 ThinkProgress published a report on “The 7 Most Anti-Gay U.S. Representatives.” Lamborn made the list.
“Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), a third-term Republican who came under fire for racially insensitive comments that associating with President Obama was like “touching a tar-baby.”
Earlier this year Lamborn was chastised by Jewish leaders for an inaccurate and insensitive tweet about Easter and Passover.
See some of the responses below.