From 1900 to 1950, LGBTQ+ individuals in Northern Colorado lived largely under the radar, as homosexuality and gender nonconformity were criminalized and considered taboo. Social norms and legal restrictions forced queer people into secrecy, with few safe spaces for expression. In cities like Fort Collins and Greeley, queer communities were extremely difficult, if at all possible, to find. Further, LGBTQ+ individuals often faced discrimination and legal consequences. Despite this, queer communities began to form in the shadows, navigating a world that offered little acceptance. This inquiry lesson explores the hidden histories of LGBTQ+ individuals in Northern Colorado during a time of repression and marginalization. 

In Denver specifically, the police routinely harassed and arrested gay men under state and then city ordinances. This coincided with the Lavender Scare, which was a moral panic about sexuality. In the 1950s, Colorado passed a “psychopathic offender law” that made being queer illegal. This law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1967 with Specht V. Patterson, because the law violated the 14th Amendment by not giving those arrested due process. In light of the law being overturned, the City of Denver passed an ordinance that outlawed crossdressing, lewd behavior, and soliciting in very vague terms. This ordinance was used to target and harass gay men until 1973. The Denver Police used these ordinances to entrap and arrest gay men on the basis of conversation until the Gay Coalition of Denver sued the city council. This led to the GCD and other members of the queer community being allowed to speak their concerns at a meeting on October 23rd, 1973. The meeting ran for several hours as gay men spoke about the harm of the public expression laws and police targeting they experienced. Shortly after the meeting, the ordinance was dissolved, ending a long history of police violence toward the gay community in Denver.  

Between the years of 1990 and 2014, the queer community in Colorado experienced a wide range of advancements and setbacks. In 1990, Denver adopted an anti-discrimination policy against gays and lesbians, becoming one of the first cities in the country to specifically codify a law protecting members of the LGBTQ+ community from harm. In response, conservative groups rallied to create and propose Amendment 2, a bill making anti-discrimination laws illegal at the state level. Amendment 2 passed during the 1992 elections, becoming law in 1993. The amendment passed by a 53-47 margin. 

The passage of Amendment 2 exacerbated homophobia in the state. Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store faced a bomb threat in 1993 simply for employing openly gay individuals. The Ku Klux Klan began distributing anti-gay literature in cities like Aspen, which had also joined Denver in passing anti-discrimination laws in 1990, and high school students in Fort Collins noted an increase in outward homophobia at their schools. In the March edition of The Public Eye, the feelings of Colorado’s queer community were articulated: 

“An eerie unease hangs in the air in Colorado. For lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, nagging questions pervade everyday life: Did the kindly person who just gave me her parking place vote for Amendment 2? Did my landlord vote for the amendment, knowing that I am gay? Will gay rights be pushed back to the days before Stonewall? Who or what is behind this hate?”

Nationwide backlash against Amendment 2 was swift. Colorado faced boycotts by the entertainment industry and from nationwide LGBTQ+ groups. In 1996, the United States Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision, deeming Amendment 2 unconstitutional. This was a major victory for gay rights nationwide, as it protected antidiscrimination laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.

In 2001, in the wake of the murder of Matthew Shepard, Colorado passed a hate crimes law that protected both sexual identity and gender expression. Shepard, a gay man and resident of Laramie, Wyoming, was brutally beaten and left to die on a fence post outside Laramie. He was airlifted to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died in a local hospital. 

The 2000s saw a general shift to the right in both local and national politics. In 2006, another amendment was added to the Colorado constitution which set back gay rights. Amendment 43, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, passed with a 56-44 margin. However, following Amendment 43’s passage, a slew of new legislation worked to expand rights and protections for LGBTQ+ citizens. Between 2007 and 2008, laws were passed that allowed gay couples to adopt children, protected transgender Coloradans from employment discrimination, and expanded housing protections. In 2009, the Designated Beneficiaries Act allowed same-sex couples the benefit of insurance, inheritance, hospital visitations, funeral arrangements, death benefits, and other important legal matters.

In 2014, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down marriage bans in both Utah and Oklahoma, setting the stage for Colorado’s Circuit Court of Appeals to declare Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Gay marriage has been legally recognized in Colorado since October 7, 2014.