Dem Constable: "Being gay doesn't make you special"

I know, you're used to that kind of rhetoric from the Trump administration but the shameful reality is that the comment came from a Democratic Party office holder.

The comment was made on a thread posted by an elected official regarding Pride Flags. The elected official posted a picture of Pride Flags flown in another city and added the comment, "We need to fly Pride flags in El Paso."

Not something you would think is very controversial but the response was pretty surprising.

Westside Constable Angie Sommers replied, "No we don't...being gay does not make you special".

I know, that sounds pretty hard to believe and harder still to believe that a comment like that came from a Democratic office holder, but it did.

Whats that you say?

Of course I have a screenshot.

Come on now, you know me better than that! I always have a screenshot.

I'm a Democrat and my daughter is gay, so there was no way I was going to let someone from my own Party make a comment like that and let it go unchallenged. So I call her out on it.

Constable Sommers doesn't like when people call her out.

She then tried to change what she said, having the nerve to say that she didn't mean that - even though its exactly what she said. So she responded with

That is not what I mean! What I mean is EVERYONE is special. So if we are going to parade flags for this interest group, we damned sure need to make sure that we parade flags for all interest groups. DON'T EVER try to explain anything for me! You're foolish and you have no clue what I believe in.

Puro pedo.

But the whole premise she is pushing is that somehow flying a Pride Flag during Pride Month is somehow taking from someone else. Its also completely ignorant that she calls the LGBTQ community a "special interest group". She later referred to being gay as a "lifestyle".

I have a big problem with people that don't understand something very basic like what a choice is. For example, being a biker, or dressing in western gear and riding a horse, or being a gun enthusiast or stamp collector...those are all a "lifestyle". Its something you CHOOSE to do.

But being LGBTQ is about who you ARE. For example, I am straight. I was born that way. It was never a question for me. I was never "confused" about it. I was just born straight.

The same way my kid was born gay.

Obviously this bothers me because my kid is gay, but it also bothers me as a veteran. I resent the idea that many in that thread, including Constable Sommers, think that flying a Pride Flag is somehow disrespectful to law enforcement or POW's or any other group because a Pride Flag is flown. When did flying a Pride Flag mean you were taking away from someone else?

Incredibly Constable Sommers, after a lot of rage texting in all caps on that thread, eventually said I was being a "bully". Well if standing up against people that make ignorant comments about the LGBTQ makes me a bully, then so be it.

But it doesn't. It just makes me a regular person who happens to believe that love is love and doesn't think anyone should be persecuted for who they care about.

There are much more important things to hate people for, like their choice of football teams.

The bottom line here is that Constable Sommers runs as a Democrat and every 4 years shows up back at Democratic Party events asking for people to support her. She disappears after winning. Mostly she flies under the radar because lets be honest, its a constable position and no one really cares about constables.

But I care a lot about my values as a person and the values my Party stands for. If Constable Sommers genuinely meant to say that she didn't think any community was MORE special than another, she had adequate time to apologize to everyone for the miscommunication and then clarify what she meant.

That is what mature adults do.

Instead she just said, "deal with it!"

So we should deal with it.

We should hold candidates and elected officials accountable for what they say and the values our Party reflects when they are asking for our vote. That is perhaps the most responsible way for us to "deal with it".

Actually now that I think about it, she's up for reelection. Perhaps that is the best way to "deal with it".

We have seen this movie before and I wrote about this yesterday, we have to be vigilant as Democrats about who we elect. Dori Fenenbock wasn't really a Democrat and she made the cocktail party joke in the GOP about running as a Democrat in order to get elected, something she actually attempted to do. We are going to see a lot of "fake Democrats" try that little stunt this election cycle.

Whether they are suddenly Democrats - or people like Sommers who have long run as Democrats - it is up to us as Democrats to scrutinize the candidates and make sure we are electing people that truly represent our community's values.