Denver, CO – One Colorado Action Fund recently established the  issue committee “To Protect LGBTQ+ Coloradans,” with the purpose of opposing all anti-LGBTQ+ titles submitted to the Colorado Title Board that would jeopardize LGBTQ+ equality in the state. An Issue Committee allows One Colorado Action Fund to strategically and meaningfully engage a wide range of partner organizations and community leaders in contesting anti-LGBTQ initiatives. We need our collective voices to come together to stop these every step of the way.

“One Colorado is aggressively challenging the surge of anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives showing up in our state. These attacks on the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado are not new. For decades, the far right has  falsely claimed LGBTQ+ people are a threat to society–something we all know isn’t true. The people behind these efforts seek to smear and erase the LGBTQ+ community, forcing unnecessary suffering on LGBTQ+, transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive Coloradans and their  families. What they fail to recognize is that Coloradans will not stand by silently, nor allow prejudice and discrimination to be legislated in our state. With a total of 21 initiatives filed thus far, One Colorado is dedicated to stopping these efforts and educating all Coloradans about the deep, adverse impacts these initiatives will have on our beautiful LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ Coloradans and allies are firm in our commitment to pursue a fair and just Colorado!” said Nadine Bridges, MSW (she, her, hers), One Colorado’s Executive Director

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“One Colorado  is proud to support “To Protect LGBTQ+ Coloradans,” the issue committee formed to oppose these damaging and disingenuous attacks on the most vulnerable members of our LGBTQ+ community. The introduction of anti-LGBTQ legislation over the past year has led to a drastic increase in negative mental health outcomes for transgender and gender expansive Americans; our organization will continue to protect those who are most at risk through every opportunity, including legal opposition,” said Garrett Royer (he, him, his) One Colorado’s Deputy Director.

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Additional information

Colorado is one of 26 states that offers citizen led initiatives, also known as ballot initiatives or referendums. This is a form of direct democracy that provides the opportunity for citizens to put forth policy changes.  While every state is different, there is a set of criteria proponents must meet in order to get an initiative on the ballot and in front of voters in the General Election.

In Colorado, proponents are required to meet several stages to make it onto the ballot, including the following: 

• Initiative language is introduced that meets a single subject or single issue area requirement. 
• Once approved for circulation, the initiative has 6 months or until 3 months before the general election to submit signatures to the Secretary of State. The initiative must collect 5% of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado Secretary of State in the preceding general election. (typically around 125,000 signatures of registered voters). 
• If the initiative shows verified signatures of registered voters collected within the timeframe, the initiative is allowed to appear on the general election ballot in November.

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One Colorado is a 501(c)3 and is the state’s leading advocacy organization building a brighter future for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Coloradans and their families. 

One Colorado Action Fund is a 501(c)4 and exists to secure protections and opportunities for LGBTQ+ Coloradans through grassroots, local, and statewide organizing and lobbying efforts.

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