Lauren Boebert’s ‘family values’ hypocrisy
Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert was recently caught in a compromising position — or at least her hands were. Ms. Boebert, who is wellknown for being a loudly-opinionated QAnon-conservative firebrand, was asked to leave a production of the musical “Beetlejuice” after vaping, making a lot of noise, and engaging in sexual acts during a show recommended for kids as young as ten.
I’m not interested in kink-shaming Ms. Boebert — who among us hasn’t made a questionable decision when hot and bothered? — but her actions were wrong for a myriad of reasons. They were also hypocritical — and that’s worse.
Family values hypocrisy?
Does someone, like Ms. Boebert, who has campaigned on “family values” have to live up to their own publicly-stated standards around the clock? Public foreplay runs counter to a core tenet of family values, namely protecting youth from indecency.
Or, in playing the game of getting elected, may she say one thing to the voting public and live her life in a different manner? How consistent should her public positions and her private life be? Is it all right for a politician to campaign on one set of beliefs while living — in a life their constituents usually won’t know about — by very different ones? Is Lauren Boebert a hypocrite or … just a politician?
There is hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle, of course. Every politician has to engage in the political gymnastics of getting elected. This is as true of local politicians as it is of world leaders: ethical compromises are the backbone of governance. To remain pure is to get nothing done. But Ms. Boebert’s hypocrisy has hurt very real people.
What has she said? Here’s one example from the GLAAD Accountability Project: “I am fighting to protect families from extremists telling our children that it’s ok for them to get a sex change and take puberty blocking drugs. It is wrong to sacrifice the safety and wellbeing of our children on the altar of radical leftist ideology.”
She’s also called transgender women “men dressing up as caricatures of women.” She really doesn’t like drag queens. One famous tweet went: “Sending a message to all the drag queens out there: stay away from the children in Colorado’s Third District!”
One can imagine someone like Ms. Boebert coming to a different opinion with time, perspective, and persuasion. But no evidence exists to support that. Her anti-LGTBQ+ opinions remain on social media, as does her support for bills that target this community.
Getting handsy
So when she is seen getting over-the-pants handsy with the owner of a bar that features drag performances, at a show with queer-coded leads no less, it stinks of hypocrisy.
In supporting anti-trans legislation and in targeting drag shows and performances, the Colorado politician has advocated for the erasure and denigration of people who do not conform to a strictly cis-gendered heterosexual worldview. This is the population that is most vulnerable to harm, both self-harm and harm from others.
Ms. Boebert’s attacks on this community have incredibly large implications and the stakes could not be higher for those involved. GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer media advocacy organization, has rightly called her “dangerous.”
Ms. Boebert appeals to family values when she needs access to the power and name-recognition granted to public figures. But when it’s convenient for her, she’s happy to flout all the rules of decorum and public decency in the name of having a good time.
It reveals a certain contempt for the people who elected her. By living by a different set of rules, she’s either underscoring how ridiculous the conservative movement’s opinions are, or she’s highlighting how ridiculous she is. The 36-yearold-grandmother, who made a name for herself by shaming others, has only opened herself up to be judged and shamed.
Everyone’s allowed
I think Ms. Boebert deserved a fun night out. She isn’t a bad person for making out with her boyfriend, but she’s a bad person for groping her boyfriend during a play with children present. She isn’t a bad person for vaping, but she’s a bad person for vaping in a pregnant woman’s face. And well, she’s definitely a bad person for recording the show on her phone.
Lauren Boebert is allowed to be reckless and young and dumb. She’s just not allowed to do it while making it impossible for the rest of us to live our lives that way as well.