Out Boulder County Announces New Community Center

After more than 25 years of community activism and organizing, Out Boulder County has announced its new community center. The 9,505 square foot building located at 3340 Mitchell Lane in Boulder will serve as the primary location for community services and programming, and Out Boulder County’s administrative offices. The expansion was made to accommodate rapidly expanding programming and services, continued community engagement efforts, and the organization’s growing staff.

“We did it. With the support of the Boulder County community, our services and programming have outgrown two spaces in the past seven years, leading us to begin a search for a true community center to house our programming and operations and provide a space that can truly belong to the Boulder County LGBTQ+ community,” said Mardi Moore, executive director of Out Boulder County. “Because of the rich history of Boulder County’s LGBTQ+ organizing and activism we have arrived at this major milestone in the history of our community.”

The community center will include dedicated space for Out Boulder County’s youth programming that reaches hundreds of LGBTQ+ youth each year, will provide ample space for the already robust transgender and BIPOC programming to continue to grow, and community trainings and workshops. The community will continue to be able to access some of Out Boulder County’s programming at the downtown location including the Point! program and some social support services.

There will be space for other community groups that partner with Out Boulder County to host their events. Members of the community will be able to reserve and rent space for their own events in compliance with Out Boulder County policy. 

In early fall, Out Boulder County began quietly raising money towards the down payment. These initial funds are the beginning of a five million dollar capital campaign which will be conducted over the next three years. A comprehensive planning process for the capital campaign has begun, including soliciting extensive community input. 

“Out Boulder County is the strongest it has ever been. With the support of the community and their generosity through our upcoming capital campaign, we will be able to pay off the building and fund needed capital improvements to the space.” said Bryn Long, vice president of the Out Boulder County Board. “The purchase of this building and the success of the upcoming capital campaign ensure that Out Boulder County will be around for years to come providing life-saving programming and services to the entire Boulder County LGBTQ+ community.” 

The community is invited to join Out Boulder County staff and board members for an open house celebration of the new space on January 25, 2022 from 6 - 7:30 p.m. (masks and proof of vaccination will be required). More details regarding the upcoming capital campaign will be provided at the open house.

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Colorado LGBTQ activist Jordan Blisk to receive Stonewall Award

The American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) will honor Colorado LGBTQ activist Jordan Blisk with its Stonewall Award during a virtual ceremony on Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. PST at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Seattle.

Named after the New York City Stonewall Inn police raid and riot of June 28, 1969, which was a turning point in the gay rights movement, the award recognizes lawyers who have considerably advanced lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the legal profession and successfully championed LGBTQ legal causes. 

Blisk is the assistant director of chapters at the American Constitutional Society, a progressive legal organization, and executive director and board chair of the Colorado Name Change Project (CNCP), where he leads programs that provide transgender Coloradans with legal and financial assistance with their name and gender marker corrections through attorney-led workshops across the state.

 

CNCP accomplishes its goals through attorney-led workshops, microgrants to defray or wholly eliminate the cost of legal transition, individual pro bono legal assistance, nonpartisan advocacy and innovative technology implementation. Blisk is working to lay the groundwork to replicate and expand successful CNCP initiatives in neighboring states with policies on legal transition that are less accessible than Colorado’s.

 

After high school, Blisk served in the U.S. Air Force for four years, then received his B.A. from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Having earned both the rank of senior airman and his undergraduate degree by the age of 20, three years later, Blisk became the first openly transgender graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, where he organized the first annual CU Law Name Change Clinic.

 

In law school, Blisk interned at Lambda Legal, working primarily on state and federal impact litigation cases such as Zzyym v. Pompeo and utilizing the resources of Lambda to fight against discriminatory practices in blood donation by LGBTQ person and to fight for the inclusion of transathletes in youth sports.

 

In 2021, the National LGBT Bar Association selected him as one of the “40 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40.”

 

“We are thrilled to honor trans activist, veteran and lawyer Jordan Blisk, who through his advocacy work inspires us all to demand and create a better world for all of us,” said Judge Benes Aldana, chair of SOGI.