Vice President Mike Pence was greeted with a rainbow flag and a message to "Make America Gay Again," during his family's vacation in Colorado, the Aspen Times reported.
In the spirit of Aspen, residents welcome Vice President Mike Pence, like everyone else, with a message of inclusiv… https://t.co/hLTD5khIy0
The rainbow flag was draped over a stone pillar that sits at the end of the driveways for the home where the vice president and his wife, Karen, are staying during their vacation, and the home of a neighbor.
A religious conservative, Pence is perhaps best known for promoting Indiana's religious freedom law as the state's governor before becoming vice president. The law was widely criticized for promoting discrimination against the LGBT community.
During his time as a congressman, Pence also voted against a bill that would have banned employers from discriminating against potential hires based on their sexual orientation, and supported the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
In a profile in the New Yorker, President Trump reportedly joked about Pence's views on LGBT rights during a meeting with a legal scholar, motioning toward the vice president and saying, "Don't ask that guy — he wants to hang them all!"
The banner greeting Pence this week caused little tumult in the ski resort town, where the Pence family is expected to ring in the new year, according to the Aspen Times. The vice president and his wife arrived at the home Tuesday and were expected to leave Monday.
One of the women who hung the banner told BuzzFeed News that she, her partner, and her two sisters also stuck hundreds of other small flags in the snow after finding out the vice president would be staying at the home next door.
The women also up their property line with 500 LGBT flags in front of the house.
"We did not trespass at any point," she said.
She said after posting the flags, they walked over to deputies and Secret Service agents to offer them chili.
The woman provided BuzzFeed News with pictures of the flags and the banner after they were displayed.
She later asked that her name be removed from the article because she began to receive numerous threats from people on social media over her protest.
Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo told the Aspen Times that the people who draped the banner were "real sheepish," but when they were told that law enforcement would not be interfering with their right to free speech, the family then came out to give chili and corn muffins to the sheriff's deputies and US Secret Service agents.
"They've been really nice to us," DiSalvo said.
"We posted the flags as a means of peacefully expressing our disagreement with his belief and so we wanted other queer people to feel loved and supported," she told BuzzFeed News.
Online, though, the banner caused quite a fury...
Make America Gay Again? America was never gay and currently less than 1.6% of the US population (roughly 4 millio… https://t.co/cytSwqn7a4
Some people were triggered.
Mike Pence’s neighbors hung up a “Make America Gay Again” sign. But if someone draped a flag that said "Make Amer… https://t.co/1xhFXHAH2Y
hanging a "make america gay again" sign in front of your second home in aspen is the most lazy liberal bourgeois "a… https://t.co/uM53RSKIIm
Instead of a message of inclusivity, some people saw it as an attack.
Instead of ‘ Make America Gay Again’ let’s make America a family again. There is a war on the family unit as a who… https://t.co/QvG02tuCZW
#MakeAmericaGayAgain Well Gay = Happy @realDonaldTrump and @VP Are Making Everyone Happy So yes America we are… https://t.co/OGQoe0tUmG
Others applauded it as a peaceful protest.
PROTESTER OF THE WEEK: Mike Pence’s neighbors in Aspen, Colorado put up a “Make America Gay Again” sign. #MAGA 🏳️🌈… https://t.co/d359BYcWLm
#MakeAmericaGayAgain
Critics of Trump and Pence also used it as a hashtag and a rallying cry against the current administration.
@realDonaldTrump @realDonaldTrump We won’t be denied, we won’t be intimidated and we sure as hell won’t go away; go… https://t.co/NT43vQmYyl
Make America Gay Again... Indeed !!! hahaha 🏳️🌈 #SouthPark #TWEEKxCRAIG #MakeAmericaGayAgain
And others just enjoyed that Trump supporters were so enraged by the sign.
People are taking #MakeAmericaGayAgain really seriously. Like we are going to leave our brunches to take over the… https://t.co/rwpIH2gy4f
Make America Gay Again 🌈 (MAGA seems really upset about the Mike Pence prank, so you probably shouldn't like/retweet this)
UPDATE:
The name of one of the women who posted the banner has been removed from this article after she received threats on social media.