We Have Your Back: A Pride Month Message from Our COO, Bruce Parker

2025 has been rough to put it lightly. That’s why it is so important that this year’s Pride Month be a moment of celebration and joy. 

It is also a time to reflect and recommit ourselves to supporting each other and the entire LGBTQ+ community. It’s a time to honor the courage of those who came before us, to celebrate the resilience of our community, and to face today’s challenges with clarity and conviction. If you find yourself feeling like there isn’t a lot to celebrate, I would encourage you to remember that we are still here, still fighting, and still working together to build the future that we all deserve. Now let’s be clear, we are living through a coordinated political assault—not just from extremist legislators, but from our own federal government.

This is a calculated campaign to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life. And they’re starting with trans people, particularly youth, because they think that’s where we’ll break. They think trans folks are the easy target. They think we won’t stand together, that we’ll be too distracted by bad-faith debates about sports teams and bathrooms to notice what’s really happening.

But they don’t know us.

We’re not going anywhere, and we will stand together because we are rooted in community, not fear.

What we’re witnessing isn’t random—it’s strategic and deeply dangerous. From D.C. to Denver, there’s a wave of rollbacks:

• Trans people stripped of federal recognition

• HIV service funding gutted

• LGBTQ+ employee groups dismantled

• Nondiscrimination protections erased in housing, healthcare, and employment

• LGBTQ+ health data scrubbed from public records

• School policies weaponized to make youth unsafe

  
  

Even in the face of these realities, some advocates are asking, How do we convince LGB people they’re next—even if trans people are the current focus?

But here’s the thing: We’re not next.

We’re already being targeted.

To my LGB friends: Don’t get it twisted. They are coming for all of us—right now.

At Rocky Mountain Equality, we’re seeing the fallout up close. Every day, our staff are answering the call:

• Youth looking for safety

• Families on the brink needing support

• Queer and trans people navigating systems never built for them

  
  

Since last November’s election, demand for our programs has surged—from therapy to case management, from advocacy to community events. Our team is working miracles. We are holding families together. Helping people survive and thrive. Building systems that center equity, not exclusion.

And you—our community—you’re right here with us. You’re volunteering. You’re donating. You’re showing up. You’re doing what community does: having each other’s backs.