Earlier this year, Lorena Garcia of Westminster was appointed to the seat previously held by Adrienne Benavidez, a Democratic Caucus leader. With Garcia’s appointment to the General Assembly, the body has added another member of the LGBTQ community to its ranks. Colorado’s state legislature now has the most openly queer individuals serving compared to any other state. As a result, the LGBTQ caucus of Colorado’s increase in numbers has given it a greater impact, which has resulted in an increased ability to direct Colorado politics.
Representation for queer Coloradans has been on a steady increase since the mid-2010s and had one of its biggest watershed moments in 2018 and 2020 with the election of Brianna Titone, Colorado’s first openly transgender person, and the selection of Daneya Esgar, an open lesbian, to be the majority leader of the Colorado House of Representatives. This increase in representation comes in contrast to Colorado’s past history as the “hate state.” Colorado earned that moniker back in the 1990s with the passage of Amendment 2, decriminalizing discrimination against LGBTQ Coloradans. Amendment 2 was overturned roughly 10 years later, and Colorado went on to elect the nation’s first openly gay governor and pass anti-hate crime laws protecting its queer citizens.
Colorado has undoubtedly made progress on that policy front but remains ground zero for legal challenges made against the rights of the LGBTQ community. From Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission to 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Colorado conservatives have launched a campaign to have American courts allow businesses to refuse services to gay couples and queer people.
This anti-queer crusade has also seen hard-line conservatives elected to the legislature, contrasting the growing power of the LGBTQ caucus. Recently elected members, like Douglas County’s Lisa Frizell and Littleton’s Brandi Bradley have sponsored a bill that would ban trans children from competing in sports that align with their gender. Rep. Brianna Titone, who chairs the LGBTQ caucus, has observed an increase in inflammatory rhetoric over her time as an elected official.
“Interestingly, in my first year as an elected official, there was quite a bit of queer-related legislation. It varies from year to year.” Titone said in an interview. “Now, with recent elections, we now have some members of the legislative body that are very vocally anti-LGBTQ, so we will see if Republican leadership can convince them not to introduce the types of anti-queer legislation we are seeing across the country right now.”
However, it appears these newly elected members of the Republican caucus either are receiving little pushback from their caucus leaders on their anti-LGBTQ agenda or are simply ignoring their advice. Despite opposition, Titone and the LGBTQ caucus are holding strong and continuing to diversify their coalition. Titone recently worked to sponsor a bill that would protect gender-affirming and reproductive care. Rep. Titone pointed out that her caucus’s diversity allows them to address a greater assortment of issues.
“Our caucus has become a lot more intersectional over the past couple of elections… For example, when David Ortiz was elected, it brought veterans’ issues, especially queer veterans’ issues, to the forefront.” Rep. Titone says.
Ortiz of Colorado’s 38th House District is not only one of Colorado’s first bisexual legislators but also the state’s first wheelchair user to represent a district. Many of Ortiz’s legislative efforts center around disability rights and veterans’ issues. Stephanie Vigil, another newly elected member of the caucus, is Colorado’s first openly non-binary individual serving in the chamber. Vigil, who represents Colorado Springs, commented that their identity didn’t come up that often during their campaign.
“I don’t think most people knew or really noticed until the shooting at Club Q when the topic became more relevant,” Vigil says in an interview. Rep. Vigil also says they are excited to work on housing issues in Colorado, “In particular, protecting people who rent their home and promote greater stability and quality of life for these households.”
Vigil says they also want to tackle transportation and air quality. One of the caucus members, Lorena Garcia, says in an interview that, “… The LGBTQ Caucus and our allies must ensure that hateful rhetoric will not be tolerated or unanswered and it should not only be our caucus members (who call it out).” She furthered her point by saying, “The GOP focuses on attacking drag queens, trans people, queer teachers to distract from real threats to our communities: guns, manufactured poverty, unchecked corporate greed, and disinformation about elections.”
The LGBTQ caucus’ rise to prominence in Colorado politics has brought to light one universal truth. LGBTQ issues are Colorado issues and vice versa. From immigration reform efforts by representatives Lorena Garcia and Sonya Jaquez Lewis, gender equity reforms from Stephanie Vigil, and criminal justice reforms by Representative Leslie Herod, the Colorado LGBTQ caucus is tackling issues that matter to everyday Coloradans, regardless of their gender or sexual identity.
“Our members focus on Latino issues, healthcare, mental healthcare, violence, and, especially right now housing.” Rep. Titone declares, “Of course, we bring our own unique perspectives that might not be considered otherwise; we share many of the same struggles as other Coloradans; we just sometimes experience them in different ways.”
