A small tourist town in rural California known as the Danish Capital of America is at war with its own LGBTQ community. But all the way in the real Denmark, the actual mayor of Copenhagen has spoken out, demanding they cease and calling their behavior incompatible with Danish values, reported the Los Angeles Times on Monday.
"For the last several months, the townsfolk of rural Solvang, population 6,000, have been waging an ugly battle over just how visible its LGBTQ+ community should be," reported Hailey Branson-Potts. "The City Council shot down a proposal to hang pride-themed banners downtown — and both critics and supporters now say they’ve received death threats. The husbands who proposed the banners were harassed online, called groomers and pedophiles. People posted the names and photos of their four young children. This spring, prosecutors filed charges against two young men for stealing a pride flag from a church a few miles outside town and burning it. Then high schoolers walked out of class in protest after school administrators ordered rainbow-colored crosswalks to be painted over."
Meanwhile, city councilman Robert Clarke attacked those protesting the city's policy as "Chardonnay Antifa" in newly-exposed text messages, claiming that "for every butt hurt person" who stands up for LGBTQ rights, he will give $10 to Gays Against Groomers, an extreme-right group whose members have vandalized lawmakers' houses with antigay slurs and who are at the heart of attacks on drag queen events.
The controversy has grown so great that the mayor of Copenhagen has weighed in.
"Denmark is 'one of the most progressive countries in the world,' Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen wrote in an open letter to Solvang’s mayor," said the report. "Solvang’s 'opposition to Pride does not reflect the genuine warmth and acceptance of Pride that can be seen across Denmark and especially in Copenhagen,' she said. In a statement to The Times, Andersen added: 'I was informed that the local opposition to put up Pride flags around town was justified with regard to Danish values and traditions. That’s why I think it was incredibly important to kindly make aware that these are not values we can answer for in Copenhagen.'"
All of this comes as Republican lawmakers around the country have pushed new legislation targeting the LGBTQ community, including laws making it illegal to even mention gender identity or sexual orientation in schools, citizen-led book bans, and crackdowns on child-friendly drag storytime events.
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