On Thursday, the Wisconsin Assembly were discussing a bill that would ban any flags other than the American flag and the state flag be flown over government buildings. For the past several years, Governor Tony Evers has flown a Pride flag over the state Capitol building and this simple act of respect has pissed off the Republicans to no end.
State Rep Jerry O'Connor spoke in favor of the ban, blaming the Pride flag for both the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the death of Charlie Kirk:
Today's remembrance, and it's also a new day of sadness. So, on September 11th, we are acknowledging those who lost their lives in Washington and in DC, 24 years ago. And then yesterday we were struck with a political assassination. These two events have something in common. Those that hate the standards and the principles and the founding institutions that we have in America.
So, you move from what's too often political dialogue, that moves to political rhetoric, and there are those extreme cases where it leads to hatred and to murder. That's not the role that the government should be a part of.
As elected officials here in Wisconsin, we need to act. We need to be the ones who lead by setting aside political and partisan differences. Stop the gaslighting, stop the hateful rhetoric, and stop the excessive division. Today we've heard various testimony that objects to this bill as if it's the cause of division. When it is quite the opposite, it's to stop causing division.
O'Connor never quite explained just how showing respect and acknowledging the existence of a whole group of people is divisive or hateful. And his statements are pure projection. Including people and acknowledging their existence isn't divisive or hateful. Not wanting to acknowledge them is hateful and divisive, not to mention petty and irrational.
The LGBTQ community has never done anything wrong. But for bigots like O'Connor, just the fact that they were born is somehow a crime against society.
Unfortunately, the bill passed along party lines. However, if it makes it past the Senate, Evers will surely veto it and the Republicans will not have enough votes for an override. But the GOP showed the state and the world who the real haters are, not that we didn't already know.
H/T Heartland Signal for the video.
