Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado is up for reelection in 2020 and Dan Baer, an openly gay Democrat and former U.S. Ambassador under President Barack Obama, hopes to unseat him.
Baer, who just received the endorsement of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, pulled in a jaw-dropping $1.35 million in fundraising dollars last quarter. It’s the largest ever initial fundraising total for an openly LGBTQ congressional candidate.
Proud to have the endorsement of a group that backs an incredible slate of highly qualified progressive leaders and public servants dedicated to bringing substantive change and empathy back to our politics. Thanks @VictoryFund! pic.twitter.com/DTCOBC1nxC
— Dan Baer (@danbbaer) July 8, 2019
This no doubt has Gardner more than a little unnerved.
44-year-old Gardner has a long history of supporting antigay policies. Not only does he oppose same-sex marriage, but in 2015, he voted against giving same-sex partners access to the Social Security and veterans benefits earned by their spouses, and in 2007, he voted against a bill to allow same-sex couples in Colorado to adopt children.
In addition to that, Gardner has voted to confirm nearly all of Trump’s judicial picks, even the ones with vehemently anti-LGBTQ records, and he declined to co-sponsor any pro-LGBTQ bills, like the Equality Act.
He currently scores 12 on the HRC’s Congressional Scorecard, down from 16 the previous year. In contrast, he has a perfect score of 100 percent with the antigay hate group The Family Research Council.
Despite all this, Gardner still likes to bill himself as a “pro-LGBTQ Republican” by appearing at fundraisers hosted by the conservative LGBTQ rights group American Unity Fund and having his press secretary tell reporters he’s “a strong supporter of marriage equality” while he simultaneously tells the same reporter that “marriage should only be between a man and a woman” and “my views on marriage have long been clear.”
Seriously, the dude’s a mess.
If elected, Baer would become the first openly gay man in the U.S. Senate and the third openly LGBTQ person to serve in the chamber.
Kangol2
I hope Baer wins but any Democrat (Hickenlooper, somebody, etc.) in that seat is preferable to Gardner, who’s been a great little foot soldier for McConnell and Drumpf.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Countdown til this abhorrent noxious smcubags kiddie sex scandal erupts…10,9,8,7….
JessPH
Colorado has become a true-blue state. This Gardner inbred can already say goodbye to his reelection bid
Rex Huskey
another pulitzer prize winning queerty title from gilmore: “…colorado’s most antigay republican senator…” he’s the only republican colorado senator
Jared MacBride
Stop confusing people with facts.
Kangol2
He’s not the only one they’ve ever had, and other recent ones, like Wayne Allard, voted for anti-gay laws, while Ben Nighthorse Campbell, another recent Colorado Republican, wasn’t known for being extremely homophobic. Gardner’s record on the issue is arguably worse. So Queerty’s headline may not be as wrong at all, depending upon how you read it.
Cam
It will be interesting to see how the accounts that always defend anti_LGBT bigots try to attack the Democrat and defend this guy.
GayEGO
Buh bye Garder, your kind is on the losing battleground as equality advances forward.