Six years ago, One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans and their families asked LGBTQ people across the state to complete a survey to determine what issues impacted their lives. More than 4,600 people responded to the survey and the results shaped the priorities of our organization: expanding relationship recognition, ensuring LGBTQ youth feel safe and welcome in their schools, and increasing access to health care.
Since then, LGBTQ Coloradans have made incredible strides. Civil unions and then the freedom to marry came to Colorado. More transgender Coloradans have access to the health care they need. Colorado has over 220 Gay-Straight Alliances and nearly 65 percent of all schools have anti-bullying policies — making a safer environment for all young people, including LGBTQ students. These achievements laid the groundwork for how we build the future of One Colorado, but there is more work we have to do to ensure every LGBTQ person in Colorado can live their life openly and honestly.
One Colorado wants your input on what the next phase of our work looks like, which is why we are asking LGBTQ Coloradans to fill our our 2016 needs assessment.
The survey covers a variety of subjects from immigration to youth homelessness, income inequality to discrimination, and many other issues that impact the lives of LGBTQ Coloradans every day.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people continue to face attacks on the street, in their schools, and in state legislatures across the country. Anti-LGBTQ laws in Indiana, North Carolina, and Mississippi have made it clear that our opponents show no signs of slowing down their efforts to undo all the progress we’ve achieved. That’s why One Colorado’s work will continue to focus on protecting and expanding the rights of LGBTQ Coloradans through public education and advocacy.
It is important that no one in our community is left behind — whether black, bisexual, transgender, or undocumented. The fight for lived LGBTQ equality is not over and we want to make sure our priorities align with our community — and with our state.
You can help guide One Colorado’s work and priorities over the next several years by completing the survey. It will only take twenty minutes and could be the most important thing you do to help secure a fair and just Colorado. Fill it out at http://colgbtqsurvey.org.
Austin Montoya is the Communications Manager for One Colorado. One Colorado is the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans and their families.
