Defending LGBTQ+ Rights for Coloradans, at Home and in D.C.

What happens in Washington, D.C. doesn’t stay in Washington. It directly impacts LGBTQ+ people here in Colorado, and that’s why RMEQ has been hard at work this year fighting back against harmful federal policies and making sure our community’s voices are represented, even outside of Colorado.

Next week, along with RMEQ COO Dr. Bruce Parker, and Neil Fishman, president of the Rocky Mountain Equality Action Fund board, I will meet with lawmakers and partners in D.C. to make sure Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community is heard loud and clear.

This work is about all of us, and together, we’re building a future where every LGBTQ+ person in Colorado can live authentically and thrive.

What We’ve Accomplished So Far

RMEQ’s federal policy work has focused on a few big things: protecting access to healthcare for trans youth and adults, fighting for LGBTQ+ people to be represented in federal data, defending students’ rights in schools, protecting our marriages, securing accurate gender markers on identity documents, and advocating for funding for programs that keep our community safe and healthy.

And we’ve already made important progress. From protecting trans students by helping stop a proposed federal ban on transgender youth in school sports to fighting back against harmful rules that target gender-affirming care, passports, and LGBTQ+ affirming schools.

We are committed to keeping up the fight and making sure our community is well informed about challenges to our rights and changes in federal policy.

How We’re Fighting Back Right Now

We know these attacks aren’t slowing down, so neither are we. Right now, RMEQ is:

• Teaming up with more than 80 organizations to oppose federal rollbacks of equal opportunity protections.

• Defending Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy that is being challenged in a U.S. Supreme Court case.

• Supporting Colorado laws that replace healthcare funding lost due to federal cuts.

• Working with local hospitals and agencies to make sure anti-LGBTQ+ orders from Washington don’t go unchallenged here in Colorado.

Looking Ahead

There’s still so much work to do. In the months ahead, we’ll keep pushing Congress to fully fund essential services, tracking court cases that could rollback LGBTQ+ rights, keeping our community updated on policy changes, and fighting back against every attempt to strip away our protections.