Governor’s Office Fails to Vet GAG Ceremonial Flag Request

Colorado’s Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) released a statement apologizing for the flying of ceremonial flags purchased by anti-LGBTQ+ group Gays Against Groomers (GAG). The state and US flags were flown on behalf of the group, and they were awarded a certificate alongside the flags. The issue arose only after GAG posted images of the flags and certificates on X.

The flag appears to have flown days prior to GAG’s rally this past Saturday, according to the certificate shared to X. GAG used Colorado’s Ceremonial Flag program which lets members of the public request flags be flown on behalf of the applicant. It is unclear when the request was made, but the application for the request was a simple one. The applicant, in this case GAG, pays a fee of $26-$29 while also providing at 150-word description written by the applicant.

The certificate reads: “The people of Colorado present this flag to Gays Against groomers with thanks and recognition for all their work to protect children.” It also states the certificate is authorized by Governor Jared Polis. On the post, the GAG account tagged Polis’ personal account and the official Governor account. These in tandem made it appear that Polis endorses or is in some way supportive of the organization.

According to a statement by Tony Gherardini, the executive director of the DPA, the request was not appropriately vetted prior to the flag being raised over the capitol. “At the time of the request, DPA was unaware Gays Against Grooming has been designated a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League,” Gherardini explains. The DPA fulfilled the request without making the governor’s office aware. Why the request was not vetted nor the governor’s office informed by the request remains a mystery.

Because the certificate was already given, it is unlikely anything more can be rectified with this incident. “We are taking internal steps to ensure that a more thorough vetting occurs going forward,” Gherardini says. The DPA states they are taking steps so an incident like this does not happen again. According to the Advocate, the online flag request form has been temporarily taken down.

Why the applicant was not properly vetted is unclear.

Photos courtesy of social media