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| Micah, an Alternative Winter Breaks participant, eagerly calls constituents and asks for their support on the civil union bill. |
This morning we woke up bright and early and headed off to the
Colorado capitol building for a tour. We introduced ourselves to our tour guide
as the group of students from The University of Kansas, and needless to say, I
was ecstatic after he said, “I must admit, my father graduated from The
University of Kansas School of Law.” George, our fellow Jayhawk and tour guide,
would later introduce us to a woman named Sandra, who had attended KU and lived
in Hashinger Residence Hall. It was a joy to listen to Sandra as she shared her
stories about KU, back before Lewis and Templin Residence Halls were co-ed. Sandra
had studied painting, and her friend, a fellow art student, had designed The
Liberty Hall logo that is still used today. It was a thrill to meet these
lovely individuals, and to witness the breadth and connectedness of the Jayhawk
family. Throughout our tour, George mixed in nuggets of history as he discussed
various architectural features and statues. For example, George began our tour with
the earliest history of Colorado. According to George, Colorado originated as
part of the Kansas territory, but eventually became its own entity in order to increase
the number of Free states in the Union. At the end of our tour, we waited in
line to attend the governor’s state of the state address. Unfortunately, we weren’t
able to secure seats in the gallery of the House of Representatives. However,
after following the crowd of frenzied folk in suits, we were able to find some standing
space just outside of the gallery, where we could see the governor, and also
hear his speech via microphone. It was enthralling to witness such an important
speech, and our joy went through the roof when the governor devoted a portion
of his speech to equality, focusing specifically on the LGBT community. The
governor ended this portion of his speech by proudly and loudly declaring that
it was time to pass civil unions. At this point of the speech, our fellow
listeners burst into applause, and the individuals seated within the gallery
jumped to their feet to show their support. After an inspirational and motivational
time at the capitol, we headed off to the One Colorado office to participate in
further organizational and clerical work. After several hours at the office, we
headed off to the administrative offices of the Denver Public School District. At
the office, we were fortunate enough to sit in on a presentation given by Daniel
Ramos, an employee of One Colorado. Daniel’s title is Program Manager of the
Colorado GSA Network. Daniel’s presentation was given to social workers,
teachers, and school psychologists employed with the Denver Public School
District. The purpose of the presentation was to establish an effective working
relationship between One Colorado and the Denver Public School District, and to
also give the school district’s employees the tools and resources needed to establish
successful Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs). One Colorado has several key areas on
which they focus their attentions and efforts. One of these areas is the development
of safe schools. The development of effective GSAs is a key component in the
creation of safe schools for LGBT youth. We ended our day by participating in
One Colorado’s community volunteer night, where we were joined by volunteers from
around the community. While at the volunteer night, our group was given the
task of calling constituents living in important legislative districts who seemed
to be supportive of LGBT equality and civil unions. We were asked to call these
individuals, and ask if they would be willing to give their support to the
civil union bill by signing an electronic petition. There was a mix of
excitement and nervousness in the air as we prepared to place our calls, as we
were completely unsure of what awaited us on the other line. Personally, I was greeted
mostly by answering machines. However, the individuals that I was able to
actually speak with ranged from polite to enthusiastic, as some politely declined
to sign the petition, and others emphatically agreed. One woman went so far as
to end our conversation with the phrase “Go, Fight, Win!” Her enthusiasm, as
well as the enthusiasm of our fellows who cheered so loudly at the capitol, has
given me great hope that the legalization of same-sex civil unions is just
around the corner for the state of Colorado. It is my hope that these waves of enthusiasm
will continue to swell and ultimately spill over and engulf our entire nation in
tides of beautiful equality.
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