MileHighGayGuy: The newest Rights Five superhero

Have you created your very own Rights Five superhero yet?

Above is MileHighGayGuy (of course!) and he's got the ability to help spread the empowering word of Colorado's great gay rights via the incredibly technologically advanced power of ... um, blogging.

The Rights Five: Five Days, Five Rights

Today's day three of the MileHighGayGuy Five Days, Five Rights spotlight on The Rights Five. Today's gay rights superhero is The Protector and he represents Colorado's hate crime laws.

The Colorado hate crimes law covers crimes committed with the intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation. The term "sexual orientation" is defined in the law to include "transgender status" thereby also providing protections on the basis of gender identity and expression.

The law is not just about physical violence; it can also be applied to words or actions that threaten injury as well as crimes committed to an individual's property.

Strong hate crime laws send a message to victims, perpetrators, and law enforcement officials that crimes motivated by bias will not be tolerated in this state. Bias motivated crimes are not like any other crime because they are intended to create fear among an entire community of citizens.

If you believe you have been the target of a bias-motivated crime, immediately contact your local police department and report it.

The Rights Five: Five Days, Five Rights

Day two of the MileHighGayGuy Five Days, Five Rights examination of The Rights Five and today we've got The Clarifier.

The Clarifier represents Colorado's Housing and Public Accommodations Nondiscrimination law. The law, passed as Senate Bill 200, expanded Colorado's anti-discrimination protections in public accommodations, housing and a variety of other areas to include LGBT people.

A place of public accommodation is any business that offers sales or services of any kind to the public, or that offers facilities, privileges, advantages or other accommodations to the public, such as hotels, restaurants, stores, hospitals, clinics, and health clubs.

The housing provisions protect LGBT people by ensuring that landlords, any entity that provides a lease, sellers, homeowner associations, lenders, real estate agencies, insurers, advertisers, cities, counties, government agencies, and others involved in showing, selling, renting, transferring, or leasing housing or residential real estate.

Individuals who have experienced discrimination and would like to file a complaint should contact the Colorado Civil Rights Division at 303-894-2997 or go to their website at: www.dora.state.co.us/civil-rights. For additional information on this law, click here.

Superman, Batman, Wolverine ... and you! Find out how to become a superhero with The Rights Five

Today The Center held a press conference to unveil an awesome addition to The Rights Five campaign, a groundbreaking program aimed at educating Coloradans about five recent laws that offer protections for the gay community.

The laws include Employment Nondiscrimination, Housing and Public Accommodations, Hate Crimes, Second-Parent Adoptions, and Designated Beneficiaries and Carlos Martinez (pictured), The Center's Executive Director, explained that "because these laws have been passed just within the few years, we want to make sure that all LGBT coloradans know about them, understand them, and tell their friends and family about them."

The campaign debuted earlier this year with a booth at PrideFest and now The Rights Five website has added an application that allows visitors to create their very own superhero alter-ego and share it (and the message of The Rights Five) with friends and family. Just upload a photo and customize to your heart's content by choosing skintone, hair color, costume, superhero "flair", and, last but not least, superpowers and abilities.

So be sure to check out the site and have some fun while you learn about your rights as a gay Coloradan.

The Rights Five: Five days, five rights

Every day this week I'll be spotlighting one member of The Rights Five.

The Rights Five are a team of superheroes representing five Colorado laws that protect and enrich the lives of LGBT Coloradans.

First up we've got The Enlightener. She represents Employment Nondiscrimination.

In 2007, Colorado made discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of sexual orientation illegal. The law includes a definition of sexual orientation that includes transgender status.

The law makes it illegal to consider sexual orientation, including transgender status, when making employment-related decisions, as well as to make inquiries about an applicant's or employee's sexual orientation, inclusive of transgender status.

The law applies to all employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, on-the-job training, and vocational training programs and schools.

Individuals who have experienced discrimination and would like to file a complaint should contact the Colorado Civil Rights Division or call 303-894-2997.

For additional information on Employment Nondiscrimination, click here.

Learn more about the Rights 5 this Friday

Protect yourself and your loved ones with the Rights 5. Come to an open house with Lambda Community Center in Fort Collins and Mindy Barton of Equal Rights Colorado to learn more about the Rights 5 and Designated Beneficiaries Agreements for Coloradans this Friday.

Have you heard about the Rights 5? You will!

The GLBT Community Center of Colorado has launched a $100,000 marketing campaign to build public awareness of The Rights 5 - five state LGBT laws enacted over the past four years. The effort, which includes online ads, messages on bar napkins and coasters, videos and outreach at pride events, uses a superhero theme to try to engage the public, according to this article in the Denver Post.