State Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud), who’s running for state treasurer, is touting his endorsement by David Barton, who’s on the anti-LGBT hate list of the Southern Law Poverty Center (SPLC), which monitors “hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States.”
The SPLC includes on its anti-LGBT list groups and individuals who “often link homosexuality to pedophilia, claim that same-sex marriage and LGBT people in general are dangers to children, that homosexuality itself is dangerous, support the criminalization of homosexuality and transgender identity, and that there is a conspiracy called the ‘homosexual agenda’ at work that seeks to destroy Christianity and the whole of society.”
... Barton has claimed that gay people die “decades earlier” than others and have more than 500 partners apiece in their lifetimes. On his WallBuilders radio broadcast, he’s flagrantly misled listeners by saying that the “leading pediatric association in America” has cautioned educators against providing education about homosexuality. But the American College of Pediatricians that Barton referred to has only a couple of hundred members and is, in fact, a right-wing breakaway group from the 60,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics, which is the real “leading pediatric association in America.”
Lundberg wrote on Facebook that he’s “honored and greatly encouraged” by Barton’s support. (See Lundberg’s Facebook post here.)
Lundberg did not return calls seeking comment. But conservatives have attacked the SPLC in recent months, saying it’s a left-leaning organization, despite its historical role in exposing racism.
“#SPLC serves one useful purpose,” tweeted the Colorado Republican Party in September. “It lets readers know not to trust stories citing it. #SPLC is like the bright coloring on a poisonous frog
Republican in the state-treasurer race include state lawmakers Justin Everett and Polly Lawrence, Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn, and Brett Barkey, a district attorney. Democrats include State Representatives Steve Lesbock and Dave Young, and businessman Bernard Douthit, also a Democrat.