I would characterize the recent school board meeting as follows: The issue was not anti-gay, but rather about teaching sexuality to very young children.

The presenters were soft spoken, very polite, yet very clear, passionate and direct. I remember thinking how proud I was at the civility of their presentations. The board members were also polite and professional, so that was all good.

The part which understandably was uncomfortable for the board was the loud applause after each presentation. The people were clearly passionate and delighted that their feelings were accurately represented. At no point was there any threat of violence (see video below), unless the board was pre-conditioned to believe that conservatives are dangerous.

The “controversy” came at the end of the meeting when a parent sat down and gave an emotional and angry opinion and refused to be interrupted when he made an inappropriate comment about Gov. Jared Polis. I think many of us were quite uncomfortable with his forceful speech, and the more hesitant applause reflected that.

For the record: He promptly finished when his time was up. However, you cannot characterize the whole meeting based on that one presenter. I’m confident that any violent person would have been restrained by the crowd immediately. The degree to which any board member was afraid of bodily harm would, in my humble opinion, reflect the degree to which they do not understand what conservatives are really like.

I’m sure that superintendent Tony Byrd felt the meeting was more “aggressive” than normal, but it reflected the frustration of the parents. However, to question the validity of more than 1,100 signatures is rather dismissive.

Going forward, the board should make a real effort to get to know the conservative side of their constituency.

Make up your own mind. Watch the video: Vimeo.com/manage/videos/789349826.