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Posted on: March 9th, 2014 No Comments

LGBTQ activists face no-show legislators during lobby day


Rainbows abounded at the Denver Capital last Monday, but they weren’t the kind caused by refracted light. LGBTQ activists and allies engaged in their annual lobby day to advocate for equal rights, bringing in hundreds of supporters from across the state.

Seventeen people from the Western Slope were in attendance, including three of CMU’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) members as well as five students from high schools within the Valley.

“This is the second time we’ve been able to take [high school students] with One Colorado,” Casey Sadahiro, GSA coordinator said. “As their GSAs are slowly developing, we’re connecting them to everyone else.”

One Colorado is the leading state advocacy group for LGBTQ rights that helps stage the lobby day, ensuring that state legislators receive the message loud and clear.

“We start out our day by going over everything that is going to be coming up over the next year that we need to be lobbying our representatives for,” Sadahiro said. “They give us training on it and introduce us to a few of our LGBTQ representatives.”

This year One Colorado placed heavy emphasis on the introduction of marriage equality on the 2016 ballot, trying to repeal the amendment previously passed allowing civil unions amongst same sex couples.

“The biggest thing is it’s separate but equal,” Sadahiro said, referring to the labeling of unions and marriages.

“It might have all the exact same syllogisms but its still a separate entity.”

Public opinion has shifted dramatically in the past few years, resulting in a 51 percent majority in favor of same-sex marriage.

“It’s almost guaranteed to be on the ballot,” Sadahiro said. “It’s just a matter of whether the court is going to get there before we do.”

Optimism aside, Sadahiro stressed the dilemma Western Slope advocates frequently face in convening at the Capital.

“The biggest issue is that all of our representatives have to go over to Denver and they don’t tend to have local offices,” Sadahiro said. “In general, trying to get them to respond to you on a personal level is very hard.”

However, Sadahiro has begun to notice that face-to-face responses even within the Capital are increasingly difficult to come by, at least from Western Slope representatives Ray Scott and Jared Wright.

This year Ray Scott was absent from the Capital while Jared Wright reportedly left the Capital after his assistants received cards informing the representative of the activist’s presence.

“For the last three years we’ve felt ignored,” Sadahiro said. “When we do attempt to go over there, a five-hour drive to be told they’re not there, aren’t willing to meet with us, or leaving after realizing what day it is, is discouraging.”

Sadahiro contends that the prevailing answer given by representatives who refuse to support the initiatives is a larger constituency opposed to the measures, and only a small visible LGBTQ community.  To combat this response, Western Slope activists sent the greatest amount of postcards to Ray Scott and Jared Wright than any other state representative last year.

“They’re still supposed to represent all of us, Sadahiro said. “Saying they’re going to deny one group’s rights is not at all right in any way.”

cferganc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

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