Political gadfly H. Brooke Paige received national media attention in 2018 when he secured the Republican nomination for six statewide races, including the U.S. House and Senate seats.
What wasn’t covered at the time was his online trolling of Christine Hallquist, the Democratic candidate for governor in the last election. Hallquist also gained national attention for being the country’s first transgender gubernatorial candidate for a major party.
Hallquist this month called for the “Agri-publican” coalition of candidates, who have endorsed Paige’s 2020 run for secretary of state, to condemn his transphobic comments.
“Silence is complicity. We all have to take an active role in condemning that kind of behavior,” Hallquist said. “If they allow that kind of behavior, they are participating in the degradation of our democracy.”
The Agri-publicans are led by John Klar, who is vying for the Republican nomination for governor against incumbent Gov. Phil Scott.
Klar said he doesn’t condone Paige’s comments. But he wouldn’t comment on whether he would retract his support of Paige’s run for secretary of state, because he hadn’t seen the comments in context.
“We should leave this to voters to judge,” Klar said.
In one Facebook comment during Hallquist’s campaign, Paige mocked the “wigs” that Hallquist wore. “I thought ‘she’ was picking them up from the dumpster behind the Salvation Army Store in Barre!” he wrote.
In another back and forth with a commenter who said Hallquist was becoming more “womanly,” Paige responded with a photo of Hallquist sitting with her grandkids on a bench, writing “I think she keeps her ‘perky’ on the dresser and snaps ‘em on in the morning?”
In other posts Paige said Hallquist “Probably started ‘waxing’ her face AND her chest!” and, speculating on what motivated her gender transition, wrote “is there such a thing as a “gay” Blunt?” alongside a photo of young Barack Obama smoking a joint.
Paige appeared with other Agri-publican candidates on Jan. 6 to announce his 2020 run for secretary of state — the only race he ultimately ran for in 2018, after allowing the Vermont Republican Party to appoint alternate candidates for the other statewide offices.
In an interview, Paige argued the comments were not transphobic. He said he doesn’t censor his opinions on social media in order to give voters an authentic view of his values.
“I think they’re observations about appearance,” he said. While the comments may not have been made during his “finest hour,” Paige said, he was hesitant to walk them back.
“Would I have said some of this in retrospect?” Paige said. “I don’t know.”
Hallquist said Paige’s clearly transphobic comments can pose serious danger to transgender people.
“Brooke Paige is … continuing to oppress probably one of the most oppressed groups in the country,” Hallquist said, noting that transgender suicide rates are greater than 40%, with four times the level of unemployment and poverty.
“We are an oppressed community, and all those statements continue to make it harder and harder for people,” she added.
Hallquist is currently taking a break from Vermont politics to build a sustainable energy company in Quebec, but she continues to advocate for LGBTQ rights. She has been outspoken about the “free the nipple” campaign, among other issues.
Paige is no stranger picking fights in Vermont politics circles. In 2016, Paige accused the chair of the Windham County Democrats of being a “flatlander” in a Facebook post and was subsequently banned from attending all future events held by the Vermont Democratic Party. In 2012, Vermont’s Supreme Court threw out Paige’s effort to keep former President Barack Obama off the state ballot because he was not a “natural born citizen.”
