The importance of the ‘Pink Vote’
Summer has ended, which means it’s One Colorado’s favorite season — lection season! Every single election in Colorado determines how Coloradans and our families will be treated in communities all across our state. It also means it’s time to fill out your ballot, turn it in, and make sure your voice is heard.
LGBT people and their allies can’t afford to sit out ANY election. Races up and down the ballot — from recall elections, to school board and city council races, to local and state-tax initiatives — will be very close. As is the case in every election, every vote matters, and every vote counts.
This year, Colorado’s State Senate voted down every bill that would have advanced equality for LGBT Coloradans and their families, but these things don’t just happen at our state legislature — they happen on school boards and city councils as well! You don’t need to look any further than Jefferson County to see why voting your whole ballot, and being an informed voter, matters.
This April, Jefferson County School Board member Julie Williams posted a link to an article that encouraged parents to keep their kids home from school on the National Day of Silence — a day where LGBT students and their allies vow to be silent to raise awareness about bullying and harassment. The article claimed that keeping students home from school would keep them from being “[taught] to support and embrace the unnatural and unhealthy homosexual agenda” and be exposed to “perverse indoctrination.” Harmful sentiments like those posted by Williams create school environments where LGBT students feel unsafe and unwelcome.
Unfortunately, the behavior of the School Board Majority didn’t stop there. After Williams’ anti-LGBT remarks, students, teachers, and parents organized a moment of silence before the next school board meeting and addressed the Board about the negative impacts anti-LGBT rhetoric has on the school community. With hundreds of people in attendance, Board Chair Ken Witt limited the amount of time the Gay Straight Alliance students had to address the Board to two minutes — not two minutes each, but two minutes total. When a member of the school board asked for the students to be given more time, she was told that she was out of order.
When LGBT people and our allies make our voices heard, we elect people who represent our values. It’s easier than ever to vote in Colorado since every registered voter now receives a ballot in the mail. Once you get your ballot, make a plan to return it by November 3rd. You can return your ballot by mail, drop it off at a Voter Service and Polling Center, or vote in person on Election Day. If you didn’t get a ballot, aren’t registered to vote, or need to update your voter registration, you can do so up to and on Election Day. Find out how at JustVoteColorado.com.
Let’s make sure all LGBT Coloradans and our allies make our voices heard this election. There’s so much at stake and elections will be close no matter where you live. Your vote matters — for you, your family, and your community.
Daniel Ramos is the Political and Organizing Director at One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Coloradans.
