Ally Award Winner Summit County Stands with Trans Residents

For those of us who live in Denver, it’s easy to forget that the rest of the state doesn’t have the same ultra-liberal culture we are used to. We very much live in a bubble that offers queer people safety and resources—for the most part. But, our queer family in other parts of Colorado may not be able to see how colorful we can be.

Summit County, on the other hand, is fighting for their transgender residents.

The Summit County Government and Sheriff’s Office have been selected as honorees for One Colorado’s 2018 Ally Awards, presented to individuals and organizations who work to advance equality and make differences in the lives of the LGBTQ community in Colorado.

“It really means a lot to win an award like this because we pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer,” Molly Boyd, head of the county’s human resources department, told The Summit Daily. “This is a huge issue that needs to be addressed, so it’s really exciting to be on the forefront and be a trailblazer, and to be recognized for that.”

The award comes as the result of a series of transgender-inclusive policies, practices, and health care changes the Summit Government designed and integrated in December 2015.

“In late 2015, Summit County became only the second county in Colorado to add ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ to its equal-employment-opportunity and anti-harassment policies,” One Colorado Director Daniel Ramos said. “Summit County also updated healthcare policies to ensure that any transgender Summit County employee would receive full medical benefits. This change in policy, combined with the leadership of Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons, enabled Commander Lesley Mumford of the Sheriff’s Department to transition on the job.”

Mumford was also the first transgender woman sent to the FBI National Academy, an elite, 10-week training course for law enforcement in Quantico, Virginia.

The county added new “gender identity” and “gender expression” clauses to its equal-employment-opportunity and anti-harassment guidelines, prohibiting workplace harassment, and discrimination based on those factors. The county also implemented new transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, giving employees transitioning the proper resources they need.

The comprehensive health care coverage will help its trans community with procedures, medications, and counseling. It also includes family members of county employees, offering the same services to spouses and trans youth seeking counseling and medications.

Now that the policies and new health coverage plans are up and successfully running, Boyd hopes that Summit County can work as a template for other businesses and governments to become more inclusive.

“One of the things that I’ve been working on is encouraging other employers to look at their employment policies and their benefit programs, and see how it does or does not include transgender employees,” Boyd said. “I think that’s kind of our goal moving forward is to educate other employers. The work has been done, and we’re happy to answer any questions.”