Out Boulder County becomes Rocky Mountain Equality and expands after 30 years of service to the Boulder County LGBTQ Community
The newly launched Rocky Mountain Equality will aggressively defend freedom, dignity, and opportunity while providing life-saving services for LGBTQ people and communities across the state of Colorado.
“This is a natural evolution for us,” says Executive Director Mardi Moore, who took the helm in 2013. “The needs of the LGBTQ community don’t stop at the borders of Boulder County, so why should our work? Over the last decade, we have prided ourselves on meeting LGBTQ+ people and communities where they are, along the Front Range and beyond. Rocky Mountain Equality accurately shows the breadth and depth of our commitment.”
After President Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election in late 2016, Out Boulder County began receiving requests for support, education, and community engagement from communities and public officials across Colorado. That outreach intensified during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Out Boulder County’s service area grew to surrounding counties and northern Colorado.
After expanding to provide in-person youth programming and case management services in Larimer County, providing training on LGBTQ inclusion to law enforcement across the state, and successfully passing legislation to ensure the inclusion of LGBTQ people in Colorado public health data and access to non-gendered bathrooms in government buildings the name Out Boulder County did not accurately reflect the work of the organization.
In response to ongoing community feedback, the need to support LGBTQ communities that are often left behind, and signatures currently being gathered to put at least three proposed anti-LGBTQ initiatives on the ballot in November 2024, it was time to acknowledge where the organization is and where it needs to be.
Out Boulder County relaunches as Rocky Mountain Equality. Building on more than 30 years of service to Boulder County, Rocky Mountain Equality will enhance and expand services, add programs and events, and continue to grow our statewide advocacy efforts.
“Our new name honors how this organization has grown in the past 30 years and anchors our vital mission for the next 30,” says RMEQ Board President Kaylin Gray. “We’re still the same organization fighting to create an inclusive, equitable, and compassionate world where LGBTQ+ people thrive.”
Under the name Boulder Pride, Rocky Mountain Equality began operating in 1994, and over the decades has grown into the only organization in Colorado that provides statewide services and advocacy to members of the LGBTQ community serving approximately 20,000 community members annually through more than 100 unique events. When Mardi Moore, current executive director was hired there were 2 full-time employees who mostly focused on the City of Boulder. Today there are nearly 25 people working to support the community across the state.
This relaunch positions Rocky Mountain Equality as a beacon of hope to everyone who believes in freedom, dignity and opportunity whether they live in Boulder County or anywhere else.
Contacts:
Mardi Moore (she), Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Equality
Mobile Phone: 720-346-1836
Email: mardi@rmequality.org
Micah Caswell (they), Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives
Rocky Mountain Equality
Mobile Phone: 337-580-4615
Email: micah@rmequality.org