RIDGWAY, Colo. — Nick Coman saw the Stonewall Riots on television and in newspapers as they were happening. He watched loved ones breathe their last breath and die of AIDS. He celebrated when the Supreme Court of the United States legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

As a gay man living in Ridgway, Colo. — a town of just over 1,000 and about five-and-a-half hours from Denver — Coman is inspired by the upcoming generation of LGBTQ+ activists, a group he hopes will continue fights led by his generation.

“I’ve watched so many advances win, and I’ve seen how hard it’s been to win them, and we want to keep that going in this town,” Coman said. “I can't tell you how proud I am of these kids. They keep showing up, and they keep pushing us adults further.”

Coman is one member of the small Ouray County Pride committee, which has planned two Prides in the rural, mountainous community often called “the Switzerland of America.”

The committee is comprised mostly of middle-and-high-school-aged youth, who the adults on the committee said are the backbone of the area’s annual Pride celebration and year-round spirit.

“Trans kids don’t have it easy by any stretch, and it’s getting harder,” Coman said. “It frightens me and it frightens a lot of the adults I know.”

But Colman’s fright is also matched by his inspiration — inspiration from the brave children who call out homophobia and transphobia in school, the children who dress and speak in ways that make them comfortable and the children who stand against national vitriol against the LGBTQ+ community.

[Related: Transgender community marks day of visibility as state laws target LGBTQ youth]

On July 9, Ouray County will celebrate its second annual Pride in Hartwell Park from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with a drag show, music, informational booths and a celebration of living authentically. Running alongside the festival, the town councils in Ouray and Ridgway, as well as the Ouray County Board of Commissioners, have signed proclamations supporting Pride and agreed to raise a Pride Flag outside the county building during the event.

Sean Taplin, another Pride organizer who has lived in Ridgway since he was 3 years old, said the event’s main purpose is to show LGBTQ+ folks in the area that they are celebrated and welcomed, as there are no gay bars or other LGBTQ+ support groups in the county.

“If you’re a queer person in Ouray County and you don’t know any queer people, but you know that Pride is happening, you can go to Pride and meet other queer people, and that wouldn’t be able to happen if we didn't have Pride,” Taplin explained. “It sends a very explicit message that queer people are welcome here.”

Taplin said Ouray County is typically an accepting place for marginalized groups, but Pride organizers were concerned about protests and hate at their event because a house next to the park raised a “Straight Pride” flag leading up to the celebration. Still, Taplin said the group was pleasantly surprised to see nothing but community members decked out in rainbow colors to celebrate their LGBTQ+ neighbors and friends.

“It turned out great, and we had a much bigger turnout than I was expecting,” Taplin added of the area’s first Pride in 2021.

Going forward, the groups hope to grow Pride each year, which organizers felt was particularly important now, as several states are passing anti-LGBTQ+ laws and hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals have risen.

“I think the LGBTQ community has been demonized to some extent, and we end up being the scapegoat for a lot of things that have nothing to do with us,” Coman said. “We get one day a year when we’re able to come out and celebrate and people sort of put up with it, but we have to live like this all the time.”

As a teenager in the 1970’s, Coman said he has seen the LGBTQ rights movement make immense progress, but he worries hateful politicians are forcing the community to take steps backwards.

[Related: With Roe overturned, LGBTQ activists worry same-sex marriage is next]

“Yeah, it’s sort of a downer,” Coman said. “But Pride is about acknowledging where we’ve been and all the people who’ve done what they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked.”

Alison Berg is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at alisonberg@rmpbs.org.