I'm From Driftwood - True Gay Stories

www.ImFromDriftwood.com features a compilation of true stories by gay people from all over the country. The tour comes to Denver's GLBT Center tomorrow so be sure to check it out.

I'm From Driftwood 50-State Tour comes to Denver this Saturday

Nathan and the gang from "I'm From Driftwood" will be in Denver this Saturday as part of their 4-month, 50-State Story Tour this fall to collect and share true Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender stories.

The Story Tour is intended to help LGBT youth feel less alone, let GLBT voices be heard and our stories shared, and to provide straight folks a welcoming, friendly and honest look into our lives.

Nathan will be reading some of the stories gathered on the tour and talking to people about their coming out stories at The Center this Saturday from 4-6 p.m.

The Center's Grand Opening celebration takes place this Friday

Marking a milestone in Colorado GLBT history, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center) will host a Grand Opening celebration of its new $2.5 million home at 1301 E. Colfax Ave. on Friday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Center now owns its own home for the first time in its 34-year history, and has doubled the amount of space it had at its location on Broadway.

"The building is quickly becoming the epicenter for the LGBT community and beyond -- a central meeting place, an information hub and a community resource," said Center Executive Director Carlos Martinez.

Volunteers needed for The Center's Grand Opening

Want a more hands-on experience at The Center's Grand Opening celebrations this week at 1301 E Colfax?

Sign up to volunteer on either Thursday, Sept. 16, or Friday, Sept. 17, or both.

Have special skills in serving? Want to be an ambassador for The Center and help welcome the community into their new space? Or maybe greeting isn't your style, but you'd want to be available for errands around the building? The Center still needs about 10 volunteers each day.

Volunteer shifts range from 11a.m. to 8 p.m. (whenever you can help during that time).

The Center also needs volunteers for the upcoming SAGE of the Rockies conference on LGBT Aging: "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Choosing to Live Well," Oct. 8 - 10 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. Specific needs include room monitors, greeters, SAGE booth staffers, registration table hosts and hospitality ambassadors. Please click here for more information about the conference.

If you can donate your time to either of these special Center events, please contact Jessie Genther at jgenther@glbtcolorado.org for more information or to sign up.

GLBT Community Center of Colorado to host Grand Opening celebration on Sept. 17

Marking a milestone in Colorado GLBT history, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center) will host a Grand Opening celebration of its new $2.5 million home at 1301 E. Colfax Ave. on Sept. 17 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 

The Center now owns its own home for the first time in its 34-year history, and has doubled the amount of space it had at its location on Broadway.
 
"The building is quickly becoming the epicenter for the LGBT community and beyond -- a central meeting place, an information hub and a community resource," said Center Executive Director Carlos Martinez.

The Center bought the former Video One building for $985,000 in May 2009 and renovations began last fall. The building was completed in early July and The Center opened to the public on July 12. 

 

Some of the highlights of the new building:  

• 15,000 square feet, doubling The Center's old space
• Four floors including a rooftop patio
• Decreased carbon footprint with green construction and renovation
• Expanded space for conference facilities and meetings

The City and County of Denver played a significant role in facilitating the purchase of the building by providing The Center a $250,000 nonprofit community block grant.

 

"The City and County of Denver is pleased to be involved in making the new Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado a reality," said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. "Denver has long been a leader in the Rocky Mountain region in the fight for fair and equal treatment of all citizens, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The new Center is reflective of that, and will boost economic development efforts on the East Colfax corridor."

The Center is expected to attract more than 3,500 visitors a month to its new location, which will provide a direct economic benefit to the businesses in the vicinity.  In addition, The Center hosts PrideFest every year, which creates an estimated $23 million in annual economic impact for the city, according to a 2009 research study by Birchill Enterprises.

The Center is in the second year of a three-year, $3.5 million comprehensive campaign to fund the building's purchase and renovation, as well as The Center's operations. The campaign also will create an endowment fund to ensure The Center's continued success.

The Center so far has raised about $2.8 million toward its $3.5 million goal, which it expects to reach by the end of 2011.

The GLBT Community Center of Colorado is the only statewide, nonprofit community center dedicated to empowering and advancing Colorado's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population. It serves as a catalyst for community organizing, support services, social activities and cultural events. To learn more about The Center, click here.

The Center welcomes new board members

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center) announced today that they welcome three new members to its board of directors.

The Center put a call out for board applications in May and received many qualified candidate applications. Utimately, The Center chose Dr. Jay Seller, Karen Jessey and Ryann Peyton to bring their energy, expertise and unique perspectives to the board of directors.

"We're excited to welcome these community leaders to our board, especially during such a historic time for The Center and the Colorado LGBT community," said Center Executive Director Carlos Martinez. "We own our own home for the first time in our history, and our new facility at 1301 E Colfax is quickly becoming the networking hub of the Colorado LGBT community."

Dr. Jay Seller comes to The Center's board with an extensive background in education and organizational leadership. Jay has been actively involved in Colorado's public education system as a high school English/theatre educator for the past 29 years and contributing author to the new 2010 Colorado Theatre Standards.


He has served for the past eight years as the State Director for the Colorado Thespians. He received a Doctorate of Philosophy in organizational leadership. Jay and his partner Paul Ferraresi will celebrate their 20th anniversary in November.


Karen Jessey has been in the financial services industry since 1983.  She attended St. Bonaventure University on a basketball scholarship and graduated with a degree in sociology.  She moved here shortly after graduation to enjoy the Colorado outdoor lifestyle.


Karen obtained her CFP(Certified Financial Planner), CLU(Certified Life Underwriter) and ChFC(Chartered Financial Consultant) designations and is a lifetime member of Million Dollar Roundtable (Court of the Table). She has served on the boards of The Alexander Foundation and the ATL Foundation and participated in many charity events.


Ryann Peyton is an associate at The Harris Law Firm, PC, focusing her practice on domestic relations law. Ryann received a bachelor's in psychology from the University of Denver in 2004. She graduated in 2008 from the University of St. Thomas School of Law where she was the co-president of the UST Out!Laws. In 2009, Ryann received her LLM (Master of Laws) in Taxation from the University of Denver.

Ryann has served as secretary of the board of Twin Cities Quorum, Minnesota's GLBT Chamber of Commerce, and currently serves on the boards of the Colorado GLBT Bar Association and the Denver Gay & Lesbian Flag Football League. Ryann and her wife, Sara, reside in Denver with their five-year-old English bulldog.

The Center also would like to thank outgoing board member Kyle Courtenay Velte, who has generously given her time to The Center for the last six years.

GLBT Center Statement Regarding Prop. 8 Decision

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center) applauds the ruling yesterday by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker that Proposition 8 in California is unconstitutional and should be repealed. 
 
Walker ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution's equal protection and due process rights clauses.
 
"Although the battle for equality is far from over, this ruling shows it's unconstitutional to deny the LGBT community equal protection under the law," said Center Executive Director Carlos Martinez. "This should lead to a national standard instead of the patchwork of state laws we have now."
 
Martinez and his husband, Phil Danielson, were married in California in 2008, but that marriage is not legally recognized in Colorado.
 
Marriages between people of the same sex are not recognized in Colorado because of the state's constitutional amendment passed in 2006 defining marriage in this state to be between one man and one woman.  Several laws passed in recent years do, however, provide some protections to LGBT Coloradans.

Jason Cobb and Jason Prussman were also married in California during the brief time such marriages could legally be entered into. Their son, Jacobb, was the ring bearer during their ceremony. 

"This ruling is a huge step showing that separate is not equal and that marriage is a fundamental right in this country, not just for some, but for all people," said Jason Cobb.  Both Cobb and Prussman are attorneys in the metro-Denver area and have followed the litigation in California closely.

Walker's decision is expected to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, but the legal challenges could take some time.  "The litigation battle to overturn Amendment 2, the anti-gay ballot initiative that would have precluded protections at any level to protect LGBT Coloradans, took many years before ending with the correct result," Martinez said.
 
The opinion in that case, written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, famously stated:
"A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws."

Walker's decision is expected to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court.
 
In May 2008, California's Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the equal right to marry under the state constitution.  That decision was effectively overruled when Proposition 8 was approved by voters on Nov. 4, 2008 by a 52.3 percent to 47.7 percent margin. About 18,000 same-sex couples were married in California between June 17 and Nov. 4, 2008.

The day after the vote, three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 were filed in the California Supreme Court.

The GLBT Community Center of Colorado is the only statewide, nonprofit community center dedicated to empowering and advancing Colorado's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population. It serves as a catalyst for community organizing, support services, social activities and cultural events. To learn more about The Center, click here.
 

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The Center's new home opens to the public July 12

The Center's new building is finished -- minus a few last-minute inspections -- and today (July 2) is their last day at 1050 Broadway. Both locations will be closed the week of July 5th to move and set up and The Center will reopen to the public at 1301 E. Colfax at 10 a.m. Monday, July 12.

Whoo-hoo!

CinemaQ Film Festival 2010 starts tomorrow

The 2nd Annual CinemaQ Film Festival kicks off tomorrow, June 24, and runs through June 27 at the Starz FilmCenter.

Enjoy four days of the world's best new GLBT films, including a 40th Anniversary celebration of 'Myra Breckenridge', presented by Coors Light, The Center, and Out Front Colorado.

Under Construction: The Center's new home is coming along nicely

Check out the progress that's being made on The Center's new building on Colfax Avenue, deep in the heart of Denver's oldest gayborhood, Capitol Hill.

The Center is looking for new Board members

The Center is seeking two candidates to serve on its Board of Directors. The mission of The Center is to engage, empower, enrich, and advance the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community of Colorado. Its vision is to be the premier lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organization in the Rocky Mountain Region. It works to advance a vibrant quality of life for the LGBT community, inspired by the principles of leadership, excellence, integrity, equality, inclusivity, healthy living, and community connection.

Board meetings are held six times per year and are held on the third Tuesday of the month. Board members are appointed for three year terms of office and receive no financial compensation for their service on the Board.

Click here for more information.

Denver PrideFest 2010: 11 weeks and counting!

With eleven weeks to go before Denver PrideFest 2010, The Center is busy lining up entertainers, signing with vendors, and organizing volunteers for the big weekend, June 19 and 20.

In the meantime, you can indulge in the spirit of Denver PrideFests past by checking out the links to the 2008 and 2009 Denver PrideFest Blogs.

Denver PrideFest survey from The Center

The Center is conducting a survey to determine where people in the Colorado GLBT community get their news and information about Denver PrideFest.

Click here to take the online survey.

Be sure to choose MileHighGayGuy as your answer for question #7.

If you complete the survey, you can enter your email address at the end for a chance to win free VIP tickets to Denver PrideFest.

Denver PrideFest survey from The Center

The Center is conducting a survey to determine where people in the Colorado GLBT community get their news and information about Denver PrideFest.

Click here to take the online survey.

Be sure to choose MileHighGayGuy as your answer for question #7.

If you complete the survey, you can enter your email address at the end for a chance to win free VIP tickets to Denver PrideFest.

Denver PrideFest survey from The Center

The Center is conducting a survey to determine where people in the Colorado GLBT community get their news and information about Denver PrideFest.

Click here to take the online survey.

Be sure to choose MileHighGayGuy as your answer for question #7.

If you complete the survey, you can enter your email address at the end for a chance to win free VIP tickets to Denver PrideFest.

SAGE of the Rockies

March will be a very active month for SAGE of the Rockies with many exciting ways to be involved. Please click here to check out the SAGE of the Rockies March calendar on The Center's web site including information on the next planning meetings for the upcoming GLBT Aging Conference.

Check out the progress on The Center's new digs

Construction is underway on the GLBT Community Center of Colorado's new home at 1301 E. Colfax Avenue and if everything goes according to plan it should all be finished up by the middle of this year.

Check out what it's gonna look like. Is that rooftop patio awesome, or what? I can see myself blogging from there in the summertime and working on my tan.

Jokers, Jewels, and Justice puts the gay in gaming

Don’t miss the 13th Annual Jokers, Jewels & Justice, a fun night of casino gaming that directly benefits The Center’s Legal & Advocacy program. Originally founded in 1992 as the Colorado Legal Initiatives Project to oppose Colorado’s discriminatory constitutional Amendment 2, The Center's Legal & Advocacy Program is the only legal program in Colorado dedicated solely to the equality and dignity of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and those with HIV.

Colorado Queer Youth Summit this Saturday

More than 200 LGBT and questioning youth are expected to converge on Mi Casa Resource Center this Saturday in Denver to learn organizing and leadership skills, explore their spirituality and network with other LGBT youth at the Colorado Queer Youth Summit.

"The youth of this state offer the one true hope that the change we seek will happen and be sustained for the long term," said Andie Lyons, program manager for Rainbow Alley, the GLBT Community Center of Colorado's youth drop-in center and one of the organizing sponsors of the summit.

The summit will bring together LGBTQ and allied youth ages 12-24 from across the state for workshops including safer sex, leadership, race and the LGBTQ movement, interpersonal relationships, spirituality/religion, social change, art, and more.
A collaborative group of organizers came together in early 2009 to engage youth in working toward societal change and LGBTQ equality. They created the first Queer Youth Summit in February 2009, with more than 130 youth participating.

Things to do in Denver when you're gay: The Center and Denver PFLAG's Lobby Day

The Center will host its annual Lobby Day on Monday, Feb. 15, at 9 a.m. at The Center, 1050 Broadway. Lobby Day is a collaborative effort with Denver PFLAG, and offers participants legislative information and tips on how to bring LGBT issues to the attention of lawmakers. Local legislators will be on hand to discuss important upcoming state and national legislation that will affect the LGBT community and The Center's Legal Director Mindy Barton will lead the discussion while PFLAG will provide breakfast and coffee. RSVP ASAP to Mindy at mbarton@glbtcolorado.org if you plan to attend this important event.