2023 Prism Awards

Inside Out Youth Services is the leading nonprofit in the Tava-Kaavi (Pikes Peak) region dedicated to supporting LGBTQIA2+ young people ages 13- 24. At its community center in Colorado Springs, youth access a safer, affirming space where they can build friendships, connect with trusted adults, and find vital resources that support their well-being. Beyond the center, Inside Out offers training, advocacy, and community engagement to help create safer, more inclusive environments for LGBTQIA2+ youth throughout the region.

Jordan T. Garcia is the Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee's Colorado Immigrant Rights Program, where he has worked for 17 years. He facilitates Coloradans for Immigrant Rights and brings an anti-oppression lens to his leadership, rooted in Popular Education and Theater of the Oppressed. Jordan has served on multiple boards, including the Colorado Anti-Violence Program (now Survivors Organizing for Liberation), the Chinook Fund, and the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training. He also co-founded the Luz Reproductive Justice Think Tank and the Underground Syringe Exchange Denver. Originally from San Antonio and raised in Kansas City, Jordan moved to Colorado in 1998 and earned his B.A. from Colorado College.

Telluride AIDS Benefit (TAB) is a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and providing critical support for HIV and AIDS prevention, education, and treatment. Through its iconic Telluride Fashion Week events, student-led initiatives, and year-round outreach efforts, TAB mobilizes the local and regional community to fight stigma, promote education, and fund essential services. Since its founding, TAB has raised millions of dollars for HIV-focused beneficiaries, empowering individuals, strengthening community connections, and fostering a more informed, compassionate world. TAB's work continues to support those most affected by HIV, including LGBTQIA+ communities and people living in rural areas, ensuring equitable access to care and resources.

Dr. Sean Iwamoto is a board-certified adult endocrinologist and assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. He co-founded the UCHealth Integrated Transgender Program in 2017, providing care to transgender and gender diverse Coloradans. His research focuses on gender-affirming hormone therapy, cardiometabolic and bone health, and aging. Dr. Iwamoto has held leadership roles with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the VA's National LGBTQ+ Health Program, and the Endocrine Society. He is a mentor and dedicated community advocate, having served as a Trevor Project counselor and continuing to volunteer with Project Angel Heart alongside his husband, Andy.

Instagram: @ajathekween

Instagram: @theminervaofficial

Instagram: @fupa_official

Lady Justice - 3242 S. Acoma St.

Odell Brewing - 1625 Perry St.

Cervecería Colorado - 1635 Platte St.

Champagne Tiger - 601 E Colfax Ave

Cerebral Brewing - 1477 Monroe St, Denver, CO 80206

Denver Beer Co - 2409 Main St, Littleton, CO 80120

Cerebral Brewing - Aurora Arts; 9990 E Colfax Ave, Aurora, CO 80010

Instagram: @dj_cyn

Dana Zzyym (they/them) is an intersex activist, Coloradan, US Navy Veteran, and first US citizen to have an “X” sex/gender marker on their official US passport after an historic six year long lawsuit. They are currently the Associate Director of Intersex Campaign for Equality where they continue their activism work.

Alicia Roth Weigel is a writer and activist working to improve the landscape for marginalized populations in the South and worldwide through her firm, Intrepida Strategy. A Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Austin, she continually advocates for the rights of intersex people like her—work for which she has received numerous awards and which is featured in both Focus Features' documentary Every Body (directed by Julie Cohen of the film RBG) and her memoir Inverse Cowgirl. Over the past decade, Alicia has helmed nonprofits and political campaigns and has held various marketing and business development roles in Brazil, Angola, South Africa, and throughout the US. She has written for the New York Times and Time Magazine, has been interviewed by NPR's Terry Gross and the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart and been featured in the Daily Mail, Forbes and more. She lives in Austin, Texas with her chihuahua Chiquita.

Mary-Ellen Maynard (they/she) has been a member of, first, the Lesbian Community, for at least 30 years and is now happily part of the more expansive LGBTQIA2S+ community. All told, they’ve been hanging out with the Queer folk for 40+ years. As a non-binary and intersex person, Mary-Ellen uses they and she pronouns. In one incarnation, they were a glass artist, selling primarily to the Lesbian and New Age markets into her fifties. Mary-Ellen had been semi-retired as an aspiring writer for 20+ years producing essays and LGBTQ+, sci-fi, solar punk, and, in particular, Intersex fiction. In 2020, the need to found a local LGBTQ+ organization in support of members of her community, young and old; overwhelmed her. If you do the math, you know that they’re reasonably old, very busy and thriving!

Penrose Library

R Bar

Location TBD

Jude is a fierce activist for the LGBTQ+ community. She started her advocacy work at the age of nine by testifying for a Colorado Bill that allows transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificate without it being stamped “amended.” Jude testified for this bill eight times from 2016 to 2019. Due to her persistence and commitment to showing up every year the bill was ultimately named “Jude’s Law” when it finally passed in 2019.

One Colorado Executive Director