April 8, 2024 • 8 mins
RICH GUGGENHEIM'S SPEECH WAS SILENCED AT THE CAPITOL And he's not taking this lying down. The head of the Gays Against Groomers Colorado chapter was gaveled out while making comments on a bill that would allow a convicted felon to change his name because he decided he was a woman and that is not allowed. Rich has filed a lawsuit which you can read about here, and he joins me at 12:30 today to discuss.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There's a lot of stuff going onthat gaze against groomors is pushing back against
here in Colorado. And during arecent bit of testimony at the Capitol,
Rich was trying to testify against abill that would allow a convicted felon to
change his name because he's decided he'sa woman now. And there's a lot
of reasons that felons can't change theirnames, not the least of which is
(00:21):
you need to know their background ifthey want to work in, you know,
in a sensitive environment. And Rich, what happened when you were giving
your testimony at the capitol? Ohboy? Well, first of all,
my testimony was about the history ofthe Stonewall movement, right, and I
was talking about two black men whoalso sex trafficked children and did drugs and
(00:45):
were convicted felons. I gave theirlegal name and then I gave their drag
name, Marsha P. Johnson,who was falsely acilitate associated with throwing the
first break. Right, that's atotal life as a gay man, O
trans people, nothing, let alonedenial of biological reality. So I'm testifying
(01:07):
on this. And when I saidand I was sharing their name, Malcolm
Michaels and Tony Rivera, and Isaid, you may colloquial may know them
by their their drag name, TonyRivera. Tony Rivera went by Sylvia Rivera,
and Marsha P. Johnson was MalcolmMichaels drag name. I was gabbled
for that and reprimanded by Senator JulieGonzalez for dead naming and misgendering people.
(01:30):
To be clear, these two gentlemenlived in a time when they never changed
their legal name, so dead namingis already not a thing. They never
identified as transgender. They were justdrag queens. They were just drag queens.
In fact, Marcia mister Michaels ison film saying I am not transgender.
I'm not well. Back then theywould have been called transsexual. Right.
(01:53):
I am just a gay man.Right, So this is a totally
This is to me is a it'shomophobic, right, but this is also
an attempt to compel speech. AndChristina Goke was also there and testified on
this same thing. I later againwas gabbled the second time because I said
I drew the parallels between what happenedat Stonewall and the gay and lesbian community
(02:15):
back then pushed back and did notallow these type of people to be associated
with the community, right because wedidn't want to be associated with pedophiles.
And so then I drew the parallelsbetween this situation at Stonewall and these two
individuals to Dwayne Powell, who Tierra'sLaw is named for, and I was
(02:35):
again gabbled and reprimanded by the chairman, Senator Gonzalez and dismissed. So you
were sent out. You were gabbledout and sent out of your testimony because
of the content of your speech.And that's the important distinction here, is
it not? I think it isbecause I'm not going to have my speech
compelled. I am not going torefer to a man as a woman,
and I am not going to referto someone's new name like your legal name.
(02:59):
Is important because when you go outand you identified in the community,
if I walk around and present asa woman and I have a Fellon background,
and people aren't going to be ableto just say, okay, well,
okay, tier. If I googleTierra Kelly, right, it's going
to come up nothing. But ifI google Dwayne Powell, a whole rap
sheet comes up, and this isthe same person that we've said before is
(03:22):
working with children to teach them howto do drag and perform sexually in front
of adults at a burlesque club inColorado Springs. I still don't understand the
parents that continue to do this,and I honestly feel like they're so invested
in proving their progressive bona fides thatthey don't care about this person's background.
They don't care they they're putting theirchildren in harms way, and they're fine
(03:43):
with that because they're like, oh, I'm being inclusive, yes, but
at the expense of my rights asa gay man. Because the more they
do this, the more people,same rational people say, hold on,
leave the kids alone. And that'swhat's leading to the erosion of and support
and approval of gay rights. Andhere's the thing, Mandy, that I
don't think people understand. Five yearsago, if you had told me that
(04:06):
I, as a gay man,would be at the Capitol testifying in committee
hearings because my rights as a gayman are under assault by the Democrats and
I would be partnering with Republicans toprotect gay rights, women's rights, and
children's rights, I would have toldyou to put down the crack pipe.
But that is a reality right now. This is not only this is an
(04:30):
attack on gay history because they're tryingto erase it. They're trying to compel
my speech as a gay man,and they're they're trying to erase and Senate
Bill one to eighty nine right now, they are striking through protections for sexual
orientation and replacing it with gender ideologyand gender expression. So what did you
You decided to take action, andI'm glad you did. And let me
just say this. You know,it is one thing to talk about,
(04:54):
like standing up for your rights andall this stuff, but I hate to
say it, with the makeup ofthe legislature right now, unless there's a
lawsuit, nothing is going to gettheir attention. Well, and that's exactly
what we did, yep. Sowhat did you file exactly? And who
is helping you with us? Wehave Institute for Free Speech. Alan Gura
is our attorney representing us on this, and we are filing a lawsuit against
(05:17):
Senator Gonzalez. Senator. But Ithink ever that's a yeah, that's okay.
I'm sorry. Representatives Herod Representative,Mike Wiseman Representative. She's also man,
I can't think of the two.That's okay, don't worry about that.
(05:39):
Five of them. Gonzalez is goingto be a big one because she's
the chair. And then we're filingthis lawsuit because they were the ones that
were in these committee meetings saying ifyou don't, we're not gonna you don't
say it the way you want youto say it. If you if you
dead name or misgender somebody, thenthat's not going to be allowed. And
Leslie Harrod is on record saying wearen't going to tolerate this. Then you
(06:02):
know what's really interesting right now isthis is just you are not going to
violate my free speech rights. Well, the thing that I think legally means
that I think you have the bestcase on is that you know, they
can put restrictions on speech to acertain extent, but they cannot restrict content
as they have restricted your content.And that's where I think you have a
(06:24):
great case. And I'm interested tosee how this how this all plays out.
So do you know the process asyour attorney gone through, what happens
next? I mean, obviously theyhave to be served and all that stuff.
YEP. So it was a daphand Michelson Jenney and Lareena Garcia okay,
I couldn't think of their name ofit. That's okay. So they
are there being served and then weit's in federal court, so we're not
(06:46):
doing this in Colorado. Good say, we're doing this in federal court because
we we will take this all theway to the Supreme Court if we.
I love it. I'm very proudof you, Rich I support you and
gaze against groomers and if you'd letme join, I would. But I'm
straighty straight straight, So I'm soI'm like the most HEADO HEATERO you're gonna
meet. I'm okay with my limitationsin that way. I'm okay with that
too. You should have a straightlike a like a straight branch, like
(07:11):
a like a you know, likean ally chat. There you go,
I actually do have an ally chat. And I will tell you one of
my favorite people that I've gotten towork with during all of this, and
she's one of our allies, isRepresentative Brandy Bradley. She has been just
I just reached out to her toget her on the show. Yes said,
She's been phenomenal to work with.But you know, and this is
also this goes back more in justthe testimony in two of our committee meetings,
(07:33):
and I want to say it wasnot for Jordan Scott with one a
media being there to film this andhim being thrown out of these committee meetings.
Also, so their whole uproar rightnow about one of their people being
thrown out of the thing down inPueblo this weekend is fake, right,
And all of a sudden they careabout the First Amendment, but they don't.
(07:54):
Well, Rich Gagenheim, keep usposted, and I normally would let
you stay longer, but I'm prettysure we're gonna die here and just few
minutes we're about to reach our maximumeclipse level right now. So you can
find Rich at Gays Against Groomers.If you are a part of the LGBTQ
community, you are more than welcometo join. And as soon as you
set up the official ally group,I will be in that one as well.
Right, And if you can donateto us, that would be great
(08:16):
to let fund the lawsuit, Well, you'll take my money, but you
sounds like a typical gay prison.There you go,
There's a lot of stuff going onthat gaze against groomors is pushing back against
here in Colorado. And during arecent bit of testimony at the Capitol,
Rich was trying to testify against abill that would allow a convicted felon to
change his name because he's decided he'sa woman now. And there's a lot
of reasons that felons can't change theirnames, not the least of which is
(00:21):
you need to know their background ifthey want to work in, you know,
in a sensitive environment. And Rich, what happened when you were giving
your testimony at the capitol? Ohboy? Well, first of all,
my testimony was about the history ofthe Stonewall movement, right, and I
was talking about two black men whoalso sex trafficked children and did drugs and
(00:45):
were convicted felons. I gave theirlegal name and then I gave their drag
name, Marsha P. Johnson,who was falsely acilitate associated with throwing the
first break. Right, that's atotal life as a gay man, O
trans people, nothing, let alonedenial of biological reality. So I'm testifying
(01:07):
on this. And when I saidand I was sharing their name, Malcolm
Michaels and Tony Rivera, and Isaid, you may colloquial may know them
by their their drag name, TonyRivera. Tony Rivera went by Sylvia Rivera,
and Marsha P. Johnson was MalcolmMichaels drag name. I was gabbled
for that and reprimanded by Senator JulieGonzalez for dead naming and misgendering people.
(01:30):
To be clear, these two gentlemenlived in a time when they never changed
their legal name, so dead namingis already not a thing. They never
identified as transgender. They were justdrag queens. They were just drag queens.
In fact, Marcia mister Michaels ison film saying I am not transgender.
I'm not well. Back then theywould have been called transsexual. Right.
(01:53):
I am just a gay man.Right, So this is a totally
This is to me is a it'shomophobic, right, but this is also
an attempt to compel speech. AndChristina Goke was also there and testified on
this same thing. I later againwas gabbled the second time because I said
I drew the parallels between what happenedat Stonewall and the gay and lesbian community
(02:15):
back then pushed back and did notallow these type of people to be associated
with the community, right because wedidn't want to be associated with pedophiles.
And so then I drew the parallelsbetween this situation at Stonewall and these two
individuals to Dwayne Powell, who Tierra'sLaw is named for, and I was
(02:35):
again gabbled and reprimanded by the chairman, Senator Gonzalez and dismissed. So you
were sent out. You were gabbledout and sent out of your testimony because
of the content of your speech.And that's the important distinction here, is
it not? I think it isbecause I'm not going to have my speech
compelled. I am not going torefer to a man as a woman,
and I am not going to referto someone's new name like your legal name.
(02:59):
Is important because when you go outand you identified in the community,
if I walk around and present asa woman and I have a Fellon background,
and people aren't going to be ableto just say, okay, well,
okay, tier. If I googleTierra Kelly, right, it's going
to come up nothing. But ifI google Dwayne Powell, a whole rap
sheet comes up, and this isthe same person that we've said before is
(03:22):
working with children to teach them howto do drag and perform sexually in front
of adults at a burlesque club inColorado Springs. I still don't understand the
parents that continue to do this,and I honestly feel like they're so invested
in proving their progressive bona fides thatthey don't care about this person's background.
They don't care they they're putting theirchildren in harms way, and they're fine
(03:43):
with that because they're like, oh, I'm being inclusive, yes, but
at the expense of my rights asa gay man. Because the more they
do this, the more people,same rational people say, hold on,
leave the kids alone. And that'swhat's leading to the erosion of and support
and approval of gay rights. Andhere's the thing, Mandy, that I
don't think people understand. Five yearsago, if you had told me that
(04:06):
I, as a gay man,would be at the Capitol testifying in committee
hearings because my rights as a gayman are under assault by the Democrats and
I would be partnering with Republicans toprotect gay rights, women's rights, and
children's rights, I would have toldyou to put down the crack pipe.
But that is a reality right now. This is not only this is an
(04:30):
attack on gay history because they're tryingto erase it. They're trying to compel
my speech as a gay man,and they're they're trying to erase and Senate
Bill one to eighty nine right now, they are striking through protections for sexual
orientation and replacing it with gender ideologyand gender expression. So what did you
You decided to take action, andI'm glad you did. And let me
just say this. You know,it is one thing to talk about,
(04:54):
like standing up for your rights andall this stuff, but I hate to
say it, with the makeup ofthe legislature right now, unless there's a
lawsuit, nothing is going to gettheir attention. Well, and that's exactly
what we did, yep. Sowhat did you file exactly? And who
is helping you with us? Wehave Institute for Free Speech. Alan Gura
is our attorney representing us on this, and we are filing a lawsuit against
(05:17):
Senator Gonzalez. Senator. But Ithink ever that's a yeah, that's okay.
I'm sorry. Representatives Herod Representative,Mike Wiseman Representative. She's also man,
I can't think of the two.That's okay, don't worry about that.
(05:39):
Five of them. Gonzalez is goingto be a big one because she's
the chair. And then we're filingthis lawsuit because they were the ones that
were in these committee meetings saying ifyou don't, we're not gonna you don't
say it the way you want youto say it. If you if you
dead name or misgender somebody, thenthat's not going to be allowed. And
Leslie Harrod is on record saying wearen't going to tolerate this. Then you
(06:02):
know what's really interesting right now isthis is just you are not going to
violate my free speech rights. Well, the thing that I think legally means
that I think you have the bestcase on is that you know, they
can put restrictions on speech to acertain extent, but they cannot restrict content
as they have restricted your content.And that's where I think you have a
(06:24):
great case. And I'm interested tosee how this how this all plays out.
So do you know the process asyour attorney gone through, what happens
next? I mean, obviously theyhave to be served and all that stuff.
YEP. So it was a daphand Michelson Jenney and Lareena Garcia okay,
I couldn't think of their name ofit. That's okay. So they
are there being served and then weit's in federal court, so we're not
(06:46):
doing this in Colorado. Good say, we're doing this in federal court because
we we will take this all theway to the Supreme Court if we.
I love it. I'm very proudof you, Rich I support you and
gaze against groomers and if you'd letme join, I would. But I'm
straighty straight straight, So I'm soI'm like the most HEADO HEATERO you're gonna
meet. I'm okay with my limitationsin that way. I'm okay with that
too. You should have a straightlike a like a straight branch, like
(07:11):
a like a you know, likean ally chat. There you go,
I actually do have an ally chat. And I will tell you one of
my favorite people that I've gotten towork with during all of this, and
she's one of our allies, isRepresentative Brandy Bradley. She has been just
I just reached out to her toget her on the show. Yes said,
She's been phenomenal to work with.But you know, and this is
also this goes back more in justthe testimony in two of our committee meetings,
(07:33):
and I want to say it wasnot for Jordan Scott with one a
media being there to film this andhim being thrown out of these committee meetings.
Also, so their whole uproar rightnow about one of their people being
thrown out of the thing down inPueblo this weekend is fake, right,
And all of a sudden they careabout the First Amendment, but they don't.
(07:54):
Well, Rich Gagenheim, keep usposted, and I normally would let
you stay longer, but I'm prettysure we're gonna die here and just few
minutes we're about to reach our maximumeclipse level right now. So you can
find Rich at Gays Against Groomers.If you are a part of the LGBTQ
community, you are more than welcometo join. And as soon as you
set up the official ally group,I will be in that one as well.
Right, And if you can donateto us, that would be great
(08:16):
to let fund the lawsuit, Well, you'll take my money, but you
sounds like a typical gay prison.There you go,
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