One Colorado

One Colorado is the state's leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQIA+) Coloradans and their families. Based in Denver and working in every corner of the state, it advances equality through state policy, advocacy, health care and education, so that LGBTQIA+ people are heard in the halls of power and have the chance to thrive.

The organization was founded in January 2010, and that fall it set out on its first Statewide Needs Assessment Tour, surveying LGBTQ+ Coloradans and allies to shape its work plan. That habit of listening first still guides it. In 2016 One Colorado surveyed more than 3,500 LGBTQ Coloradans for Closing the Gap, a needs assessment on LGBTQ health, and took the findings on a 13-city We Are One Colorado tour.

Policy is the backbone of the work. One Colorado lobbies the General Assembly, the executive branch and local governments on safe schools, transgender equality, relationship recognition, health and human services, older adults, youth and families, and racial justice. Since 2010 it has led 18 pro-equality bills into Colorado law, including the 2011 anti-bullying law, civil unions in 2013, the 2019 ban on conversion therapy, and 2021 laws adding gender identity and expression to the state's anti-discrimination statute and protecting LGBTQ+ parents in adoption and foster care. In 2023 it partnered with state leaders to include gender-affirming care in the Colorado Insurance Benchmark Plan and Medicaid policy, and worked with a coalition to pass SB23-188, protecting everyone involved in gender-affirming care. Each session it runs a public Legislation Tracker, publishes an annual Legislative Report and coaches community members to give public testimony.

The Youth & Schools team launched the Colorado GSA Network in 2016 and continues to support GSAs across the state, helping students register a club or start a new one and advocating for school policy change. The Health Equity team focuses on transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive Coloradans, who face the steepest barriers to care, and works through public education, training in health care settings and a community advisory group. The Field Team builds power through volunteerism, electoral organizing and one-on-one relationships, and each summer staffs Pride tables from the Eastern Plains to the Front Range and marches in the Denver Pride Parade.

Education reaches well beyond the Capitol. The training team offers sessions such as LGBTQ+ 101, Know Your Rights and Inclusive Classrooms for schools, workplaces and health providers, and the Resource Hub collects guides for students, voters, faith leaders and families, including a back-to-school know-your-rights guide for LGBTQIA+ students in Colorado public schools.

There are many ways in. Anyone can request a training, sign up to volunteer through Mobilize, give public testimony during the legislative session, or sign the pledge to defend trans rights. Tax-deductible gifts support the One Colorado Education Fund, and the One Colorado Action Fund supports political work. Each fall, supporters gather at the Denver Art Museum for Freedom for All: Prism Awards, the annual gala honoring people and organizations who have made a real difference in the lives of LGBTQIA+ Coloradans.