Denver, CO – On the morning of June 28, tens of thousands of Coloradans gathered at Cheesman Park for the annual Pridefest parade. Dozens of organizations marched from Colfax Avenue to downtown Denver, chanting, “No hesitation! Trans liberation!” and “From Stonewall to Gaza, globalize the intifada!”

Banners from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and many other groups, spanned the mile-long parade. Many had hand-painted slogans like “Queers bash back against Trump! Stonewall was a riot!” “Pride means fight back!” “Protect trans kids!” and “Chinga la migra!”

During Denver’s previous two Pride festivals, activists took over the main stage to demand that the primary organizer of Denver Pridefest, The Center on Colfax (The Center), divest from genocidal military companies like Lockheed Martin. Organizers also demanded an end to police presence at the parade. The Center’s former CEO, Rex Fuller, resigned in 2025. In 2026, The Center has refused money from corporations invested in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.

Now, for the first time in many years, The Center invited local organizers to lead a segment of the Denver Pride parade and re-center the root of Pride: protesting the injustices and violence against LGBTQ people, and connecting the Palestinian struggle to the Queer community’s struggle.

“We are here as scrappy trans folks because we fought, and we are here to recruit you to the same kind of scrappy fight, because when we fight, we win!” remarked Z Williams, a trans rights activist and the founder of Bread & Roses Legal Center, a social justice legal defense organization. “That is the only way our community has gotten what we have, and where we are at.”

There were an estimated 550,000 total Pridefest attendees, with tens of thousands watching the Pride parade and witnessing the event return to its origin as a protest fighting for LGBTQ rights.

#DenverCO #CO #LGBTQ #Pride

Denver, CO – On Saturday, June 20, thousands of people took to the streets of Denver to celebrate Juneteenth. As the parade departed from Denver’s Manual High School in the late morning, the participants were met by a sea of onlookers primarily donned in black, green and red. As the procession made its way through the streets of Denver, spectators cheered on the parade by waving and raising their fists.

Miles Thompson, an attendee of the event and chair of the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee, had this to say about the holiday: “This day is the most important day not just for Black history, but for American history as a whole.”

Thompson continued, “The centuries-long struggle for freedom was finally over, a triumphant victory for Black liberation and workers’ rights. Hundreds of slave-led rebellions, uprisings and battles were the driving forces that made abolition possible.”

After about an hour or so, the parade came to an end at the historic Five Points neighborhood in Denver. As the parade turned into a large block party, the smells of soul food and barbecue filled the air. Several blocked-off streets were lined with canopies, food trucks and event stages. The event square was packed with people of all walks of life, including members of Black fraternities and sororities, motorcycle clubs, and political groups, and Black-owned businesses.

Decades ago, Five Points was home to one of Denver's most concentrated populations of Black residents. Before gentrification and redlining campaigns, the neighborhood was the home to many Black-owned businesses and Black churches, schools and residential buildings. Years later, only a fraction of the Black population still lives in Five Points, and the Black businesses that once thrived no longer exist on these blocks. Pushed out by racist policies, the Black community was forced to move east towards Park Hill, located in northeast Denver, leaving Five Points to gentrification. Today, a majority of Black Coloradans living in the Denver Metro Area reside in Park Hill or Aurora. With the continuing demographic changes in the city, Denver’s rich tradition of Black history is often overlooked and underappreciated.

Juneteenth is as important as ever, not just to keep the longest-standing Black holiday alive, but to preserve the contributions of the Black community who shaped Denver into the city that it is today. Thompson states, “The joy expressed by those of us who proudly celebrate Juneteenth carries the weight of a nation that has been forged through centuries of bondage, pain, suffering and genocide. Juneteenth should be a day of celebration for all people; without the sacrifices made by our ancestors, many of the civil rights we take for granted would not be possible to have today.”

#DenverCO #CO #Juneteenth #OppressedNationalities #InjusticeSystem

Denver, CO – On Sunday, May 24, members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and Aurora Unidos Community Service Organization (AUCSO) organized a picket at Governors Park to demand that Governor Jared Polis be impeached for his commutation of Tina Peters’ sentence.

Peters is an election denier who tampered with voting machines under her control in an attempt to show the 2020 U.S. presidential election was rigged against Trump. She was convicted on seven charges of engaging in a security breach to advance this false conspiracy theory of election fraud.

On May 15, Governor Polis, a Democrat, commuted Peters’ sentence after months of pressure from Trump. Peters, who was slated to serve nine years in prison, will instead be released on June 1 of this year.

During the picket, which called for the impeachment of Polis ahead of the end of his second term, passersby seemed to support the message. Members of the community cheered and honked as they passed the crowd at Governors Park.

A speaker from FRSO, Bailey Heaton, detailed instances of Polis refusing to stand up for the people of Colorado. According to Heaton, Polis “can’t stand any pressure. He is a coward!” Heaton pointed out in his speech that Polis gave the controversial surveillance group Flock access to information about undocumented immigrants, defunded Colorado’s education system, and vetoed several bills that would help workers unionize their workplaces.

Many believe Polis’ true legacy will lie in his pardoning of Peters, however, whose sentence the governor called “extremely unusual and lengthy.” Colorado Democrats have since censured Polis over the decision.

Alex Riedle of AUCSO voiced how Polis, oft-cited as one of the top five wealthiest members of Congress, where he served for ten years, has chosen profit over the people of Colorado. Riedle brought up how Polis welcomed Palantir into the state, despite that company’s development of tracking technology that aids ICE in the kidnapping and deportation of immigrants.

Riedle stated, “There are hundreds of cases of far greater importance that should be reviewed and considered before the case of Tina Peters, but this is further proof that the closer you align to the capitalist class, the more likely you are to avoid accountability.”

#DenverCO #CO #AUCSO #PeoplesStruggles

Denver, CO – On the afternoon of May 14, dozens of people rallied at the Cow and Calf statues outside the Denver Art Museum (DAM) to support the museum employees’ struggle for a union contract.

The crowd, led by the Denver Art Museum Workers United (DAMWU), marched three times around the block from 12th and Tacoma Street to 14th and Bannock, chanting, “Exploitation ain’t the way, workers gotta get their pay!” and “Hey hey, ho ho! Poverty wages have got to go!”

The workers at the Denver Art Museum have been negotiating for a contract for over two years, mainly demanding higher wages, a better policy to protect immigrant employees, and more funding for the DAM worker food pantry.

“A fair wage would mean a lot of things for a lot of different people who work here. For some people, it’s about being able to afford food, it’s about being able to afford rent, to afford healthcare, to save for the future,” said Macey Borant, a DAM employee in the exhibitions department. “For me, I can’t actually afford to live in Denver with what I make at the museum, so I live in Greeley. I commute here, and the trip here is an hour and a half each way, and it’s really taxing on top of an eight-hour shift.”

The DAM pays $19.29 per hour, or Denver’s minimum wage. This is the least amount paid among all multicultural institutions, including the Botanical Gardens, Museum of Nature and Science, and the Children’s Museum, which offer $20 to $22 per hour upon hire.

DAMWU also demands free parking for employees. Parking is $6 per day at the Cherokee Street parking garage nearby, and monthly passes are $100 per month – a fee that many employees cannot afford on their current wages.

“We’re here tonight to tell management that we’re not making concessions, we will not be pressured, will not compromise, and that we are united!” said Sean Chase, another DAM worker. “If the Denver Art Museum is a world-class institution, then you should be paying world-class wages!”

The Denver Art Museum said that they would give a small wage increase, smaller than the workers are demanding, only if they get rid of the sick time the workers won in their last negotiations.

The Denver Art Museum Workers United union is going back to the negotiating table on Wednesday, May 27.

#DenverCO #CO #Labor

Denver, CO – On Friday, May 1, public spaces saw protests, rallies and events celebrating International Workers’ Day. About 100 attended a May Day rally at the Colorado State Capitol to hear activists, organizers and workers speak in support of workers everywhere.

Grassroots groups such as Aurora Unidos Community Service Organization (AUCSO), Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) put on the May Day rally, inviting all those who stand against the billionaire agenda threatening community safety, and who stand for labor rights, public services and education to attend.

Alfredo Carbajal of AUCSO spoke to the crowd about issues plaguing immigrants in Denver and Aurora, including the GEO Detention Center in Aurora, which holds over 1500 people.

Carbajal stated, “For over a year now, we’ve witnessed the international targeting of our Black and brown friends and family with racist policing, detainment and family separation. From guard mistreatment to malnourishment and medical neglect, we have heard it all.” AUCSO works closely with families targeted by immigration enforcement and private for-profit prisons like GEO.

Carbajal continued, “Immigrants, workers and students are in the fight for a more just path to legalization and true self-determination.”

Miles Thompson, chair of DACAC told the crowd, “The police serve as a tool used by the bosses to stifle the progress that labor unions fight so hard to make, in addition to terrorizing our neighbors from oppressed nationalities.”

Thompson continued, “At DACAC, our fight for community control of the police is linked intrinsically to the labor struggle, and for Black and Chicano liberation. We oppose any and all suppression carried out by the corrupt police that harm civilians of all backgrounds.”

Condemning Aurora’s current police chief, Todd Chamberlain, for protecting “killer cops and slandering victims of police brutality,” Thompson pointed out that Chamberlain was not elected by the people and chose to serve the ruling class. Thompson also made a call to action, encouraging those who stand with the working class to use May Day to connect with like-minded organizers.

Kyle Burroughs of FRSO stated, “Which side are you on? As the CEO at UPS, Carol Tome, and her ghouls, see a potential boom in profits from automation. Buildings are closing down, tens of thousands of my coworkers at UPS are kicked to the curb and told they can't work their livelihood anymore, their healthcare and what bit of financial stability they had stripped of them. Which side are you on?”

Burroughs also denounced the war on Iran and the need to “drive a stake through the heart of the parasite class, the capitalist class.”

Burroughs continued, “There's so much to fight against, but there’s also so much to fight for.”

After the event at the capitol, many organizers and attendees went on to support other May Day events happening later that day.

#DenverCO #CO #Labor #ImmigrantRights #MayDay

Denver, CO — On April 3, about 60 protesters gathered outside the Colorado State Capitol to oppose the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy in an 8-1 vote. The action was organized by the Denver Coalition Against Trump and Bread and Roses Legal Center.

Conversion therapy, widely regarded as a pseudoscience, is the practice of attempting to change a person’s gender or sexuality to cisgender or heterosexual norms. This often happens against the subject’s will and it has been shown to be highly ineffective, often causing psychological harm and effects such as significantly higher mental health disorder rates and higher suicide rates. Conversion therapy practices range from the seemingly innocuous, like talk therapy, to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, including treatment many experts would consider to be torture.

More than 20 U.S. states have banned conversion therapy for minors, and Colorado banned the practice as a whole in 2019.

Kacey Hicks of Denver Students for a Democratic Society, who emceed the action at the capitol, told the crowd, “This attack is just one of many carried out by the Trump administration and its allies on queer and trans people. It is one of many attacks used to try to make trans and queer people afraid while our rights keep getting stripped away.”

The crowd outside the capitol chanted “Donald Trump, let’s be clear, trans folks are welcome here!” and “Donald Trump, go away, trans folks are here to stay!”

After hearing speeches, the crowd took the streets of Denver. The protest leaders got on the back of a truck to continue chants throughout Capitol Hill, a neighborhood considered Denver’s main LGBTQ hub. Throughout the march, the crowd was cheered on by passersby in the local queer-owned businesses as they halted Friday night traffic.

After the protesters marched back to the capitol, Katherine Draken, a member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union gave a speech. Draken said, “It deserves to be repeated that conversion therapy has been thoroughly discredited! Doing conversion therapy on transgender children is child abuse!”

The protest closed out with more speeches, closing remarks, and chants calling for trans liberation.

#DenverCO #CO #LGBTQ #SupremeCourt #SCOTUS

Denver, CO – On Saturday, March 28, over 20,000 people showed up at the steps of the Colorado State Capitol to protest the Trump administration’s continued attacks on oppressed people and to demand an end to foreign wars. The day’s program included speeches as well as live music from Colorado Singing Resistance, Los Mocochetes, Brothers of Brass, and Notes of Dissent. The event, the third of its kind, was organized by a coalition of grassroots organizations, including Denver Coalition Against Trump, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Aurora Unidos CSO, Indivisible, and various labor unions.

Trump’s first year back in office has seen increased ICE attacks resulting in the kidnapping of community members. Laws passed by reactionary politicians have pushed back women’s, LGBTQ, and civil rights by decades in some instances. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, launched a war in Iran, and tightened its sanctions and blockade of Cuba. All of this, in addition to many other grievances, was aired by the protesters during the event, which lasted all afternoon.

Protesters began pouring into the capitol grounds around noon. Grassroots organizations set up tents and tables around the pavilion to share educational material and opportunities for organizing. The event was kicked off with short protest songs and a series of speeches by members of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Rocky Mountain Equality, the ACLU, Colorado Education Association, and Rise and Represent.

“We are here to send one clear message: that the years and decades of exploitation and abuse by the billionaire class, the capitalist class, the Epstein class, on our communities must come to an end today,” said Kooper Karaway, executive director of Colorado Education Association.

After the initial rounds of speakers, two marches started. Chants filled the streets of downtown Denver as tens of thousands of protesters marched past places of business and recreation. People watched from the balconies of their apartments, cars honked in support, and Brothers of Brass kept spirits high.

After the two marches, there were more speeches back at the Colorado State Capitol.

“Here’s the good news: this war against the people of the world is not one-sided. There is widespread resistance, both here at home and all over the world.” said Shaine Carroll-Frey of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “One year ago today, Jeanette Vizguerra was detained over in Aurora by ICE. Where is she today? She’s here with us! We did that! With constant vigils, weekly vigils and protests, we freed Jeanette! That’s what organized people power looks like – that’s what organized worker power looks like.”

“We win when we all get into the struggle. We win when we let go of our fear.” said Jade Kelly, president of CWA Local 7799. “If you leave No Kings today remembering only one thing, remember the simple truth: that we already have the power as working people. We built this world. We keep this state running with our labor. And we have the power to build a better world. We just have to organize to get it.”

#DenverCO #CO #NoKings #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #Labor #ImmigrantRights