ROUTT AND EAGLE COUNTIES, Colo. — In two Colorado counties priding themselves on world-class skiing, picturesque views and attracting visitors from around the world, LGBTQ community residents discovered a need for representation and support when they arrived in town.

To combat what they saw as a lack of community, small handfuls of LGBTQ residents in Steamboat Springs and Avon created their own resources and support for others like them, all done as volunteer work in addition to their full-time jobs.

“What I sense of the queer people in small towns or rural areas is that there isn’t a sense of community, so you’re very isolated and there aren’t a lot of places where we can go and meet people,” said Renzo Walton, a founding member of Yampa Valley Pride, held in Steamboat Springs. “Some people don’t really know who their neighbors are, and they don’t know queer people, so they’re a little bit out of touch with the community, and the visibility is good.”

Yampa Valley Pride—held for the Steamboat Springs and greater Routt County community and named in honor of the area’s Indigenous heritage—celebrated its first Pride in 2021 with about 150 people decked out in rainbow outfits and supporting the rural county’s LGBTQ members outside the county courthouse.

The area saw record rainfall minutes after the event began, but most community members and allies stayed through the event, which organizers took as a nod of support.

“Torrential downpour isn't exactly what most people want when they think of pride, so we were unsure, but we had such a shocking and wonderful turnout,” said Lexi Gretzgy, another member of the Yampa Valley Pride committee. “Many of the folks that I spoke to during the event were enthusiastic and excited to see this, they said ‘this is my first pride and I’m not missing this.’”

Last year’s event began with a small group of new-to-town residents who came from larger cities with more visible LGBTQ communities and wanted those in the small, rural town to have similar options.

“In a lot of big cities, there are queer spaces that exist year-round, and we don't have anything like that here, so we really only get one day a year to take up space,” said Chelsie Holmes, president of the Yampa Valley Pride planning committee. “It’s definitely important, because youth here aren’t really exposed to queer culture except online, so it’s important for them to know that they’re not alone, they’re not weird and there are thriving professional adults like them in this town and their identity is embraced.”

Just south of Routt County in neighboring Eagle County, LGBTQ community members had a similar experience of feeling invisible and sometimes unwelcome in their home, which led to their first Pride in 2018.

“Our community needs representation and visibility, and we need to know that there are other people like us,” said Madison Partridge, an Avon resident and the president of Mountain Pride, held in Avon. “Growing up in small-town Nebraska, I just wanted to see people that were like me who were thriving adults.”

Eagle County’s first Pride was born after a local transgender woman noticed the county had no LGBTQ spaces and wrote a Facebook post inviting other LGBTQ residents and their allies to gather at Nottingham Park in Avon. The woman has since moved out of town, but current pride organizers said her legacy has lived on in creating a safe space to celebrate identities.

“When we started as a group, we just wanted to create that representation for our youth and also create community, so they know they have a safe, welcoming space where they’re seen, heard and valued,” Partridge added. 

As anti-LGBTQ bills have surfaced around the country, both pride event organizers  said they are focusing on showing love to queer youth who often deal with bullying and harassment, and may not have adult role models to support them as they navigate their identities.

“I definitely feel like it’s important to have pride because it gives kids some a little bit of help and tells kids not to give up,” said Andi Worthen, who grew up in Steamboat Springs and came out as transgender while attending high school.

When Worthen came out as transgender, she said many of her peers did not know how to respond, and she was met with isolation and was bullied by classmates.

“When people found out I was gay in high school, they were immediately against it and all the stereotypical religious and homophobic stuff went on,” Worthen said. “When I came out as trans, I felt even lonelier because it was even more unique than being gay and people understood even less.”

Though Routt and Eagle counties both tend to vote in favor of LGBTQ rights, residents who have planned prides said they have faced harassment and backlash from other community members.

Last June, the town of Avon hung several rainbow flags around its roundabouts and in front of its recreation center to show support for LGBTQ+ pride month. Shortly after, some disgruntled community members took the flags down and wrote homophobic letters to the local newspaper. A back-and-forth argument between residents and the Mountain Pride eventually ended in an emotional Avon Town Council meeting where pride planners explained why the flags were important for representation and visibility.

“We have had a little bit of backlash, but this year, we’re coming back even stronger and even more supportive,” said Orlando Ortiz, an Avon pride committee member.

While Ortiz and other members of the pride committee said the backlash was hurtful, the opposition was heavily drowned out by support with dozens of county residents writing letters of support to the town council.

In Routt County, planners said the only criticism they have received is a few hateful residents spreading bigoted comments on internet forums, but the vast majority of community members have shown support.

Both counties also have plans to expand their pride events this year, with organizers working to make Mountain Pride its own nonprofit, and Yampa Valley Pride planners working to create a year-round LGBTQ resource center.

Mountain Pride will be held June 18 in Nottingham Park in Avon, and Yampa Valley Pride will be held on June 25 in downtown Steamboat Springs.

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