People
A Note About Dates
This list is sorted by earliest active date, which is based on when they are first mentioned within archival materials, or self-reported when they started getting involved in the local community.
Metadata dates in Obsidian must be precise for indexing, so any unknown elements of a date will be rounded down to 1. i.e. If all we know is someone was born in 1969, their birth date will be listed as 01-01-1969.
Description: Helen Thompson was arrested in 1899 for dressing in male attire while packing a gun.
Description: Barbara Grier was a landmark lesbian writer, publisher, and activist. She was the editor of the San Francisco lesbian magazine, *The Ladder*, and the co-founder of Naiad Press, one of the first ever lesbian publishing companies.
Description: Co-founder of the Lambda Services Bureau, which opened in March, 1975.
Description: A Sergeant stationed at Fort Carson that made the army discharge him by going into the Ft. Carson Mess Hall in full drag in 1978.
Description: Reverend at PPMCC starting in 1983, and
Description: Emporer XIV of the united court of the rising sun empire, VP of Pikes Peak Gay Community Center, editor of GAYSPEAK in 1990.
Description: A lesbian writer for the Colorado Springs Gazette, and later, New Phazes.
Description: David McCord and David Zamora were the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in Colorado on March 26, 1975.
Description: Donaciano Martinez is a Chicano activist who grew up in the Conejos neighborhood of Colorado Springs. He is the co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front of Colorado Springs, co-founder of the Lambda Services Bureau, Co-founder of the Colorado Springs Free Clinic, and founder of La Gente Unida
Description: Leader of Ground Zero, which combatted Amendment 2.
Description: Jocelyn Sandberg was a Lesbian Avenger and KRCC radio host. She was murdered in 2002, and her case has not been solved.
Description: A prolific leader in the local LGBTQ+ community in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Founder of the Hide and Seek, The Annex, Lambda House, and the Colorado Grill. President of the Pikes Peak Gay Community Center.
Description: Mackenzie Beninati is a performance poet who was active in Colorado Springs from 2011
Description: Sorkin is an extremely accomplished queer-identifying rock climber who attended Colorado College
Description: Poet and activist. Co-founder of the Colorado Springs Gay Liberation Front and Lambda Services Bureau.
Description: Program Director of Sweetgrass Advocacy in Colorado Springs
Description: Lesbian feminist involved in the Gay Sisters Alliance of Colorado Springs and co-founder of a women's health clinic.
Description: An article by CC student Beau Toepfer about Queer Outdoor Recreationalists in Colorado Springs.
Description: Renee Nicole Good was a beloved wife, mother, and poet from Colorado Springs who passed away on January 7, 2026 when ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed her.
Description: Rod Rhodes was an art history professor at Colorado College and multimedia artist. His work, Stations of the Cross, was posthumously displayed at Coburn Gallery at Colorado College.
Description: Former executive director of the Pikes Peak Gay and Lesbian Center