Vice President Mike Pence chose the posh skiing mecca of liberal Aspen, Colorado as his vacation destination this winter, and he decided to stay in a rented home in and around locals instead of a resort.
That decision backfired soon after he arrived. When residents next door got wind of who their temporary neighbor was, they prepared a welcome for the Veep that he wasn’t expecting.
The notoriously anti-LGBTQ former governor of Indiana was greeted with a rainbow flag inscribed with a brilliantly twisted version of his campaign’s #MAGA slogan:
VP @mike_pence is staying in a house near #Aspen on vacation. His neighbors have a colorful message for him. https://t.co/Ldef4h1G8U via @JasonAuslander pic.twitter.com/PzWqmN9Iml
— Aspen Times (@TheAspenTimes) December 30, 2017
Pitkin County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Buglione told the Aspen Times Friday that “Neighbors of the home near Aspen where Pence and his wife, Karen Sue, are staying posted the message Wednesday or Thursday on a stone pillar that sits at the end of driveways to both homes,” writes Jason Auslander.
Secret Service agents guarding the Vice President and his wife witnessed the neighbors erecting the flag, but didn’t stop them, saying they weren’t there to stop anyone from expressing their first amendment rights. The neighbors ended up sharing chili with the agents on duty, according to the Aspen Times article.
Mike Pence has long been a vocal and petulant opponent of same sex marriage and other LGBTQ rights. As a member of the House of Representatives in 2006, he delivered a speech from the floor of congress supporting a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
“Societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family,” he said, quoting a famous Harvard professor. Later in that speech, he said homosexuality was a choice, and that denying gays and lesbians the right to marry was simply enforcing “God’s idea,” not discrimination.
As governor of Indiana, Pence signed one of the most sweeping so-called “Religious Freedom” bills into law. Religious Freedom bills are state-level legislative initiatives written by conservative think tanks to protect citizens who discriminate against gays and lesbians who want to get married.
The Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was legal in all 50 states in July of 2015, and in preparation for that inevitability, Republicans in GOP-controlled states rushed to pass Religious Freedom legislation in the months and years leading up to that landmark ruling.
Colorado has defeated Religious Freedom bills on multiple occasions, most recently in January of 2017.
Mike Pence and his wife are scheduled to be in Aspen to ring in the new year before leaving sometime early next week. While we’re not positive, we’d bet good money that we won’t see much of a push from the vice president to “Make America Gay Again” in 2018.
