Hate State

How reliable are your home state’s equal-rights protections? Could the safety of your family be put at risk by a single election?

This happened to Colorado’s LGBTQ community in the ‘90s. That’s right—while you might think of it as the Wild West, the “weed state,” and one of the first states to legalize same-sex marriage, Colorado wasn’t always a safe haven for progressives and LGBTQ Americans. In the ‘90s, evangelical groups from Colorado Springs introduced an anti-gay amendment that sparked a national outrage. Eventually, the pendulum swung in the direction of progress. But that might be about to change.

This is a story about Colorado. But it's also a story about Florida. And Texas. And Tennessee. And Ohio. And maybe wherever you are right now. Because the strategy that made Colorado the Hate State traveled all around the country. And there’s always another election around the corner.

Hate State is a three-part miniseries about Colorado’s history as a testing ground for far-right policies, and how the playbook used to target gay and lesbian people in 1992 is at work again today, focused on transgender people.

How Colorado Swings Between Battleground and Playground for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights.

In Episode 2 of Hate State: Amendment 2 heads to the U.S. Supreme Court, and how Colorado went from a battleground over gay rights to a testing ground for a new generation of anti-LGBTQ+ legal challenges.

LOOKOUTJoseph Darius Jaafari (he/him)

Colorado Was Once the ‘Hate State.’ A New Podcast Examines How Its Anti-LGBTQ+ Playbook Went National.

LOOKOUT’s first narrative audio series traces how Colorado’s history of anti-LGBTQ+ politics helped shape a strategy now being deployed against transgender people across the country.

LOOKOUTLOOKOUT Staff

How Colorado Helped Build the Anti-LGBTQ+ Playbook

In 1992, Colorado became known as the “Hate State” after voters approved an amendment targeting LGBTQ+ rights, setting the stage for a political playbook that continues to shape the fight for equality today.

LOOKOUTAnn Marie Awad (they/them)

The Strategy That Gave Colorado Its “Hate State” Moniker is Being Repeated — And Tested, Again

Propositions 134 and 135 revive a 30-year-old fight in Colorado over whether the rights of a politically vulnerable LGBTQ+ group should be put directly to voters.

LOOKOUTAnn Marie Awad (they/them)