The wave of hate stems from a post on the far-right Libs of TikTok account, sharing 32 seconds of a speech Clifford gave in a February committee hearing. In the audio snippet, Clifford says he didn't "fully, on my own accord, come to terms with being gay" until he saw a child who was "clearly the gayest little thing I had ever seen." The post caption claims that Clifford "realized he was gay only after observing a young boy."
Contrary to the caption, that is not what Clifford said. His speech was not about how he realized he was gay (Clifford has known that since he was a child, as he said in his full speech before the committee). Rather, it was about how he accepted that being gay is not a choice.
"I burst out in tears because, at that moment, it was the first time that I actually was completely and utterly clear that that child was just a child with innocence and it was obvious to me that he wasn’t choosing a damn thing, he just was the way that he was," Clifford said during the committee hearing on February 18.
Clifford shared the story in support of transgender youth while speaking against House Bill 25-1254, a failed proposal to allow people who received gender-affirming care before age 26 to sue their providers for damages up to age 38.
Earlier in his speech, also not included in the post, Clifford spoke of the challenges of growing up LGBTQ in the South, and talked about his transgender classmate who committed suicide. The state rep saw the child he references in the viral clip years later, at a funeral for a different friend who was gay. Clifford was around twenty years old at the time and had only recently fully come out as gay publicly, he says.
"In Mississippi at that time, being gay required an explanation," Clifford tells Westword. "Seeing that kid — someone who was not thinking or feeling ashamed or feeling responsible for their sexuality, or explaining it to people — I realized I had never made a choice about it. Which, I think, is a struggle for a lot of gay kids."
Gun Control Debate Tied to False Claims
How did the narrative get so twisted? The Libs of TikTok post originally came from an account under the name of Scott Shamblin as part of a thread advertised as "expos[ing]" Clifford.When Clifford criticized the misrepresentation of his comments, Shamblin replied:
"I want you to understand that all the feelings you're feeling right now are directly tied to the fact that you voted to strip Colorado of their 2nd Amendment Rights," Shamblin wrote. "...I certainly hope you don't forget, because we never will."
Shamblin included photos of Clifford's "yes" vote on Senate Bill 25-003 and "no" vote on HB 1254. The former is an effort to require safety training to buy semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines, and to prohibit the sale of rapid-fire conversion devices like bump stocks. Legislators passed SB 003 on March 28; it is now awaiting consideration from the governor.
Clifford did not draft or prime sponsor the gun control bill, but he is one of the 55 out of 100 lawmakers who voted in favor of it. That has made him a target for gun rights groups.
Dozens of gun rights advocates took over a town hall hosted by Clifford and Representative Eliza Hamrick on March 20, debating Clifford on the Second Amendment and the specifics of SB 003. Hamrick ultimately brought attendees into another room to discuss non-gun issues while Clifford fielded questions for over two hours in a display live-streamed on YouTube by Spartan Defense, a firearm shop in Colorado Springs.
The Spartan Defense channel played the audio clip of Clifford's committee speech three times during the livestream, with the host saying, "I don't think you should let children around Chad Clifford." At one point, a man who attended the meeting called Clifford a "pedophile."
“I get to be their person to hate," Clifford says. "We're in this whole new realm of possibility for hate."
Spartan Defense and Libs of TikTok did not immediately respond to inquiries about the context of Clifford's speech, whether they genuinely believe he is a predator and whether Clifford's gun control-related votes inspired their actions against him.
Clifford thinks he is likely being singled out because of a conflict last year, when one of his aides was accused of throwing away petitions opposing a failed assault weapons ban, House Bill 24-1292.
Clifford denies the allegation against his aide. A video appears to show a staffer admitting to tossing the petitions, though he says he acted on his own accord and Clifford "never gave me permission to do that."
During last year's debate, critics posted his home address and pictures of his house online, Clifford says, adding that the current backlash is even worse.
"I hear the difference in the calls," he says. "Lately, they're different. Lately, they are, 'I want to destroy your life.' ...The toleration of hate and violence is rising."
Around two weeks ago, Clifford met with a constituent who had scheduled time to speak with him in his office. He says the man pointed at the State Capitol Building across the street and said, "Now that you're a tyrannical government, I absolutely should be able to bring my AR-15 down here and handle things."
"That someone would sit in the office of a state representative in view of the Capitol and make a comment like that, seemingly innocuous, is just batshit crazy to me," Clifford says. "And it's a new phenomenon. Normal human beings who without hesitation will talk about violence as if it is normal conversation."
He thinks the vitriol speaks to the increasingly hostile political atmosphere nationwide, blaming President Donald Trump's pardoning of the January 6 rioters for giving "credence and validity" to people who want to use violence for political gain.
Throwing around baseless pedophilia accusations has also become a go-to strategy among some conservatives across the country, particularly in attacking Democrats and members of the LGBTQ community.
Clifford hopes these negative trends will not continue. But based on his recent experiences, he fears the situation is only deteriorating.
"People think a new dawn has emerged," Clifford says. "It's the beginning of much worse. I do think this becomes violent."
