Denver, CO – The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) recently released their updated, interactive LGBTQ Equality Maps. According to MAP’s November email, their LGBTQ Equality Maps “provide a comprehensive look at the current state of laws and policies impacting LGBTQ people across the United States, [offering] state-by-state comparison of the policy landscape and gaps in protections for LGBTQ people across the country.” As of November 2021, MAP identified Colorado as the highest scoring state in the country with an overall equality score of 39.5 out of a possible 42.5 points. Accompanying Colorado in the top five are California, New York, Washington, and Oregon respectively. Each state is scored based on the number of laws in that state that work to achieve LGBTQ equality and are categorized as follows: Relationship and Parental Recognition, Nondiscrimination, Religious Exemptions, LGBTQ Youth, Health Care, Criminal Justice, and Identity Documents. Since One Colorado’s founding in 2011, One Colorado has directly passed more than 10 bills. Through these efforts, in 2019 Colorado was recognized by the Human Rights Campaign as a top Equality State alongside New York and California, signifying our commitment to advancing opportunities for LGBTQ people. Most recently from 2019 to 2021 One Colorado continued our policy work, passing significant pieces of legislation including:

• Identity Documents for Transgender Persons (Jude’s Law), making it easier for transgender and nonbinary individuals to update their identity documents;
• Prohibit Conversion Therapy for a Minor, protecting youth from this form of mental health discrimination;
• Inclusion of American Minorities in Teaching Civil Government, creating the inclusion of LGBTQ history in public school curriculum;
• Gay and Trans Panic Defense, reducing discrimination within Colorado law;
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Prevention Medications, expanding access to PEP and PrEP for Coloradans;
• Equal Access Services for Out-of-home Placements, improving foster care non-discrimination protections; and
• Gender Identity Expression Anti-discrimination, updating statewide non-discrimination protections to include gender identity.

Each bill was passed with collaboration from folks like Colorado’s LGBTQ legislative caucus, which is one of the largest and most diverse LGBTQ legislative caucuses in the nation, as well as with bi-partisan support from Colorado legislators representing both the Democratic and Republican parties. Alongside these advances in policy, we would be remiss not to take this opportunity to celebrate Colorado’s State Rep. Brianna Titone, the second openly transgender state lawmaker nationwide and Governor Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor. As One Colorado looks towards 2022 and the next decade of our work, we continue our commitment to equality for all LGBTQ Coloradans and their families. “These moments of success must galvanize us and help us re-focus for the work ahead towards equality and social justice for all LGBTQ Coloradans. Today we celebrate these monumental achievements, and know that collectively, the work is not done,” said Nadine Bridges, One Colorado Executive Director. “We know that laws and policies don't always translate to fully realized equality in our daily lives, especially for our most vulnerable community members. Transgender, gender-expansive, and nonbinary folks of color continue to experience discrimination and violence. We must continue to focus our efforts until we have both lived equality and legal equality.”