March on Washington Colorado Triangle t-shirt
This collection contains invaluable items that document the LGBTQ+ community during one of the most historically important moments in Colorado history. Amendment 2 was a landmark initiative that took away protections for people based on their sexual orientation. Colorado voters approved Amendment 2 in 1992. Amendment 2 was the response by the religious conservative organization Focus on the Family to many cities in Colorado enacting anti-discrimination laws to protect the LGBT community. Amendment 2 amended the state constitution to prevent any city, town or county from taking legislative, executive or judicial action to recognize homosexuals or bisexuals as a protected class. A slim margin of voters approved the amendment 53% for it and 47% against it. In response to the passage of the amendment, many organizations formed to fight to have the amendment overturned. Among these organizations, such as The Gay and Lesbian Fund and the Gill Foundation, were EPOColorado (Equal Protection Campaign) and CLIP (Colorado Legal Initiatives Project). This collection contains many items from EPOColorado, such as photographs and an invitation for fundraisers and No On 2 buttons and a paperweight. This collection has a large assortment of CLIP items, as the donor was the executive director of CLIP. CLIP items include the original application for recognition, financial statements from 1993 and 1994 showing the amount of donations and operating costs, programs and awards handed out by CLIP as thank you pieces for time and donations.
This record contains one "March on Washington" t-shirt. The text "March on Washington" and "April 25th, 1993" is in blue text on a white background. In between the two lines of text is a graphic with a large blue 'C' and a pink triangle inside of it. To the immediate right of the triangle in the same pink is text that reads "olorado" creating the word Colorado.
Thanks to the generosity of the Gill Foundation, in October 2019 History Colorado hired the Gill Foundation Associate Curator of LGBTQ+ History to manage and expand History Colorado’s LGBTQ+ holdings and to develop the Gill Foundation LGBTQ Archive in recognition of the significant contributions of Tim Gill to the state of Colorado. All LGBTQ+ acquisitions from 2019 through 2021 reflect the support of the Gill Foundation.
Dedicated to documenting the varied experiences of all Coloradans, History Colorado and the Gill Foundation initiated the LGBTQ Collecting Initiative to proactively build a research archive that preserves and promotes the contributions, history, and voices of Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community.
Frank Brown is a long-time Colorado resident who has been married for twenty-four years and is now retired. Frank was a flight attendant his entire life and this let him get involved with activism as his schedule and travel benefits let him travel to different events around the country and he could dedicate time for EPOColorado and CLIP. After the passage of Amendment 2 Frank was so upset and appalled that such an initiative would pass, he wanted to do something about it. His neighbor worked the organization EPOColorado and Frank asked what he could do to help. He began by volunteering for EPOColorado and also volunteered with CLIP, Colorado Legal Initiatives Project, eventually becoming the organization's executive director. Frank worked closely with the LGBTQ+ community and legal team that fought for Amendment 2 to be overturned. This is when he worked with Jean Dubosfsky, the lead attorney on the case, and acquired part of his collection during this time. All items in this collection Frank acquired over the many years of his work to get Amendment 2 ruled unconstitutional. All of his hard work paid off on May 20, 1996, when SCOTUS ruled, 6-3, that Colorado’s Amendment 2 was unconstitutional. That was one of the happiest days of Frank’s life.
Printed on the front: MARCH ON WASHINGTON/ COLORADO/ APRIL 25TH, 1993