The History of Out Boulder County
Years of advocacy and community organizing. And a rich history of LGBTQ+ services and programs.
Since 1994, OBC has educated, advocated and provided services, programs, and support to Boulder County's LGBTQ+ and ally communities. Through our activities, support groups, and events we reach around 15,000 people each year.
In 1994, several community organizations in Boulder County collaborated on a series of events to celebrate Gay Pride. This collective was called Boulder Pride. As the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (hereafter “LGBTQ+”) community’s engagement grew, the need for Boulder Pride to broaden its purpose grew as well. In 1999, Boulder Pride became a state tax-exempt organization.
In 2001, Boulder Pride received a three-year grant from the Gill Foundation to secure a community center and offer services to the LGBTQ+ community. Through the consistent and dedicated efforts of Boulder Pride’s board, staff, and community, Boulder Pride steadily grew every year, thus, being able to provide a more diverse array of services and programs to its constituents. The first program established was Speaking Out which brought trained LGBTQ+ and allied volunteers into classrooms and other settings to share their personal stories in order to build empathy and understanding of the LGBTQ+ community and raise awareness about the organization.
In September 2010, Boulder Pride engaged in a community process funded by the Gill Foundation and a generous donation from Vermilion Design to rebrand itself as Out Boulder. This allowed the organization to better communicate the wide array of programs and services they provide, including a new youth program, in addition to the annual Boulder Pridefest Celebration.
In 2014, OBC ran a Trans Leadership Summit, from which the Trans Steering Committee was formed to better serve the Transgender community.
In 2015, OBC took responsibility for organizing Longmont Pride and moved the celebration downtown where it turned it into a must-attend event for the LGBTQ+ and ally communities.
In 2016, OBC opened a downtown Longmont location and rebranded as Out Boulder County, expanding its mission to serve a wider region of LGBTQ+ individuals throughout Boulder County.
In 2018, OBC organized a Queer and Trans People of Color Leadership Summit that brought a wide array of community members together to identify and work on personal and organizational goals. This led to the development of OBC’s QTPOC program to better serve QTPOC individuals and further expand the diversity of OBC’s community engagement. OBC also conducted a robust LGBTQ Community Survey this year in partnership with CU-Boulder to better understand the community, its priorities and needs.
In 2020, the organization moved out of its little rainbow house in downtown Boulder and into a bigger neighboring building to accommodate the growing staff and community use. The organization maintained full operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, transfering to virtual programming without skipping a beat. In response to the pandemic, the organization created its first ever direct financial aid program for LGBTQ+ individuals and families, conducted rigorous research on the impact on the LGBTQ+ community, and advocated for LGBTQ+ inclusion in public health response efforts. The ongoing pandemic also spurred the decision to close the downtown Longmont location.
In 2021, the OBC Board recognized the ongoing growth and demand for programs and services and successfully endeavored to purchase a sizable community center, the newly minted Equality Center of the Rocky Mountains. The established downtown Boulder office would be rededicated to house the new mental health and recovery services program.
In 2022, OBC engaged in state legislation for the first time with the successful passage of HB22-1157, Collection of Data for Public Health Purposes (“Fairness in Data Collection”), which mandates the collection, analysis, and reporting of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and disability in public health data, and HB22-1356, Communities Lead, Communities Thrive Nonprofit Infrastructure Funding, a broad coalition effort which establishes a fund to support the community organizations essential for community resiliency, especially in response to forces such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, the organization is focused on strengthening its established programs, expanding the diversity of participants and staff, and leveraging its power to respond to and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.