After the tour, we made our second coffee break of the day (8:30 am), and headed over to ONE Colorado for our second day of volunteering. We started off doing sort of odd jobs and tasks around the office. Some of our group was able to work on data entry things based off of various surveys that the organization has conducted to gather information about demographics in all of the Colorado districts. On Monday, we learned that One Colorado is passionate about discovering what it's like to be a part of the LGBT community in places outside of what is familiar to them; what it's like to be a conservative small town, or living in an American Indian reservation. These surveys ask the most basic questions about family, education, and employment, and also delves deeper into more personal factors of life. ONE Colorado is unique in understanding that approaching an issue (in this case, legalizing Civil Unions in the state of Colorado) from all possible angles is often times the most effective way to spread a message that you believe in.
We had asked Shannon earlier in the week if she had any suggestions of where we should eat, and she suggested a place around the corner from the office called "Hamburger Mary's." We walked into the restaurant this afternoon and realized that it was basically a drag queen heaven. I'm glad that we are thoroughly exploring the themes of our trip, and incorporating them into every aspect of our day. I had a "shroom veggie burger with Mary's special sauce." See photo below.
When we got back to ONE Colorado, we were able to talk with a man named Jeremy who works with several different interfaith groups surrounding the LGBT community. I'm not personally a religious person, but I am surrounded with people in my life that hold these values very close, and many that also identify as LGBT struggle to find their place within each world. Jeremy had a lot of entertaining and endearing things to share with our group, and expressed a lot of passion for his work. He also shared that his involvement has created a lot of confrontational situations in his life, and that at times he has had to travel with security and members of the secret service to ensure that he is safe. It was really interesting to learn that the only people, both groups and individuals, that shared testimonies against the Civil Union bill were affiliated with religious groups, and using religious/faith based beliefs to support there objections to the bill.
When we got home from "work," I took a three hour nap so....unsure of what everyone else was doing during this time. I think it involved another trip to the grocery store. Post nap, there was lots of team bonding and secret telling.
Now we're watching Bring It On. Goodnight, kittens.
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