In moments like these, when the stakes are high, the narrative is sharp, and the pain is real, it’s easy to forget that we are on the same side.

First and foremost, One Colorado extends our sincere thanks to the sponsors of the proposed Kelly Loving Act for listening to our concerns and thoughtfully considering the proposed amendments. Alongside experts from the Transgender Law Center, Advocates for Trans Equality, local attorneys, transgender Coloradans, parents of trans youth, community stakeholders, and other legal and policy advocates, we collectively raised similar concerns with the goal of strengthening this bill. We are appreciative of the opportunity to be heard and look forward to the next steps. I am grateful for the families and community members who felt safe enough to reach out to us directly with kind and critical curiosity.

After we voiced our attention to address the raised issues, we were met with messages from a few community members that were hostile, painful, and deeply disheartening. Not because we were criticized, as we are not strangers to hard conversations, but because the criticism became personal, directed toward people who have spent years committed to mending fences, establishing trust, and making meaningful progress for our communities to thrive, especially our trans family.  

I want to name something here: disagreement is not betrayal. Struggle, especially principled struggle, a concept I learned from the amazing Kierra Johnson (coined by N'Tanya Lee), is a sign of care, not abandonment. It’s working together for liberation even if we are not fully aligned on all aspects of the approach. And yes, we do engage in principled struggle with our friends and comrades, not our enemies. This is how we grow sharper and braver to overcome whatever comes our way.

Inside-outside strategy has always been essential to our movement. We need people marching in the streets just as much as we need people negotiating in committee hearings, fighting for language changes, and ensuring our community is not further harmed by laws we put forth to protect them. One does not work without the other.

What breaks my heart is seeing our community go after each other when the real fight is with those trying to erase our community entirely. The bills banning gender-affirming care, forced outing policies, bathroom bans, the erasure of DEI initiatives or politicians running campaigns on the backs of our identities. These issues are where our fire belongs.

I know harm has been done by LGBTQIA+ organizations in the past, with our trans siblings often carrying the weight. Those wounds are real. The reality is that painting every critique as betrayal rather than an opportunity to strengthen our movement, does not heal or protect us. It divides us. We can and must do better.

I know that for many, hearing about potential amendments sparked fear. We are living through a tender and vulnerable time, through a moment of crisis, where this administration is constantly creating chaos. I understand that finding trust can be difficult, but I ask for all of us to hold compassion for each other, be curious of those who have been in the fight, and let’s work to move forward together. We must stay in the room when it’s hard. We must ask questions before casting blame, making threats, and blemishing each other’s character.

We must extend to each other the same grace we want from a world that often offers us none.

One Colorado is committed to trans liberation, and for us that means listening to trans community members and their families, including those who don’t want to be in the spotlight for fear of retribution. It means putting forth strong policy. It means marching in the streets, together. It means having difficult conversations, even when we don’t agree. It means having respect for the human condition. It means sending messages of care and kindness to each other and assuming positive intent.  It means demonstrating that love is an action and without it our movement means nothing.

As my friend and colleague Imara Jones says:

“We as transgender people possess a power right now stronger than that of those trying to erase us: the ability to imagine our future.”

As a Black, Queer woman raised by a Black father who so deeply imagined a future where I could be whatever I wanted to be without the hate that is brought upon so many Black women, I too imagine that same future for my trans siblings, my tran niblings and I will continue to fight for that reality. This is not a David versus Goliath moment. We are in this together. One Colorado will continue to fight to ensure that our community, our whole community, can live freely, openly, and authentically. This means ensuring the protections we have fought so hard for to move this state from hate will NEVER be overturned.

So, moving forward let’s hold each other accountable with courage, not cruelty. Let’s debate with dignity, not destruction. Remember: our opposition wants us divided. We cannot do their work for them.

We are still standing. We are still resisting. And we won’t rest until every queer and trans person, and those who love them, are safe, free, and fully recognized, not just in Colorado, but everywhere.

Let’s move forward together.