One Colorado: January 12

Hellllo Alternative Breaks!

Today we started out the morning with a tour of the state capitol at 10am. The legislative session started yesterday so the capitol was buzzing with people…especially because, as we found out, today was the day Governor Hickenlooper was giving the State of the State for Colorado. Due to this, parts of the building were “off limits,” including the house chambers. This wasn’t a problem because we immediately all decided that we would see them when we sat in on the speech. It would have been silly not to since it started at 11 and One Colorado had already expressed to us their hope that the Governor would endorse civil unions in his speech. After a whirlwind tour (literally, it was about 20 minutes long), we got in an endless line to enter the gallery. We were in the line for about another 20 minutes when we were informed that it was full. Not to be disappointed, we headed downstairs and went to stand in a tiny chamber located just a few hundred feet directly across from where the Governor was standing. All that separated us was a walkway and glass door. I’d like to argue that we actually had some of the best “seats” in the house. The Governor spoke for half an hour before he addressed the topic we’d all been waiting for. Finally, here is what he had to say:

“We believe in equal rights for all, regardless of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. We don’t believe that we should legislate what happens inside a church or place of worship, but Colorado should treat all people equally. It’s time to pass civil unions.”

When he said this the room EXPLODED with applause. There was a standing ovation by nearly the entire gallery—the chamber room was filled with applause and even a “whoop!” While people had been clapping throughout the speech this was by far the longest, most excited it had been yet. It was such a great moment and so exciting for the LGBT community, One Colorado, and our group to hear. It was exactly what needed to be said, and now I hope that Republicans in the house will actually allow the Governor to make this a reality.

We all left the capitol fueled for the day to come at the office. When we arrived Shannon had us finish making some more buttons, inventory t-shirts, and set up tables for this evenings volunteer night. Blake also put together a “priority” poster with the pictures, names, and contact info for 15 Republican legislators who One Colorado believes could be swayed to vote on the SB-2 (The Civil Unions bill) this year. Reasons for targeting these people specifically ranged from representatives that have a gay family member to others who live in districts that the organization feels could generate enough pressure to make the legislator think it would not jeopardize their seat to vote yes on.

Next we headed to the Denver Public Schools administration building to listen in on a GSA (gay-straight-alliance) training session for schools that have or are implementing GSA in their middle and high schools. The public schools recently received a $5000/semester grant specifically to adopt GSA programs, and One Colorado’s Daniel Ramos helps work with administrators and staff to get the programs running and interact with the students involved. We learned about the state and federal governments current legal protections for students, including anti-discrimination laws and anti-bullying laws. Daniel explained Title 9 federal protection and how that was upheld for the LGBT community in the case of Lambda Legal and Nabozny. Jamie Nabozny was a boy who was extremely bullied and ultimately won a landmark case against his school for failing to do enough to protect him. To learn more check out www.jamienabozny.com and/or watch his documentary “Bullied”!

After the GSA training we headed back to the office for volunteer night. About 5 or 6 other people showed up to help make signs and do data entry, but Shannon made all of us Alternative Breakers make phone calls. We each got a list of people and had to call them to ask if they would sign an online petition to show their legislator that they support civil unions. We were only calling two districts whose republican representatives were on the house judiciary committee and voted against the bill last year—One Colorado wants to remind them that their specific constituents support civil unions and they need to represent their community this year when they vote. I LOVED it! It was so fun to talk to people on the phone. Even though not everyone was supportive and willing to sign, many expressed enthusiasm and encouragement. I collected about 15 email addressed in the hour we made calls which was really exciting!

Overall it was a blast! We ended the day with macaroni and cheese and Blake entertainment. Seriously, the man needs a TV show.

-Anna Hurst