Denver LGBTQ+ Rights History: A Legal Timeline

This Denver LGBTQ+ legal timeline follows Colorado law from the criminalization of sodomy in 1860 through decriminalization in 1972 and the passage of Amendment 2 in 1992. It is written for readers who want each date tied to a listed source, and who want a route from those dates into the site's deeper Denver LGBTQ+ history pages. The page is a reading route, so it has no street address, hours, parking or transit plan, and everything on it can be read from any chair. Two sources carry the dates: LGBT Rights Timeline in American History and Opposition to LGBTQ rights. The reason to read it is the order. Each entry follows the one before it, so the arc from a law on the books to its reversal and the fight that came after is visible in one place.

Colorado criminalized sodomy in 1860 and decriminalized same-sex relations in 1972, according to the LGBT Rights Timeline in American History. The Opposition to LGBTQ rights article adds that the 1972 change made Colorado one of the first states to decriminalize same-sex relations.

Those two entries bracket the opening chapter of the timeline. The first is a law written into the books, and the second is the point where Colorado reversed it. Readers who want the city's story from the years before decriminalization can continue with Denver LGBTQ+ History Before Stonewall: Early Queer Venues, which suits anyone who wants the local setting behind the statute dates.

The earlier version of this page described a Denver ordinance protecting residents on the basis of sexual orientation. This revision removes the date, the coverage details and the description of its limits, because neither listed source states them. The LGBT Rights Timeline in American History is the place to check local entries against the national record.

For the places where that local history played out, Cheesman Park: Denver's Queer Gathering Place covers a park the site ties to the community. The Center on Colfax covers a Denver LGBTQ+ community hub. Both are reading destinations that put names and locations to the legal dates above.

Colorado passed Amendment 2 in 1992, prohibiting LGBTQ+ protections. The Opposition to LGBTQ rights article places the measure within the wider legal timeline of opposition to LGBTQ rights. That frame matters for anyone searching for the Amendment 2 Colorado story, because the amendment is one entry in a longer national pattern.

Romer v. Evans is the Colorado case that followed the amendment, and it is the entry to read for the Romer v. Evans Colorado ruling. The earlier page carried a vote margin, a boycott cost, an injunction date and a Capitol Hill home-price paragraph. No listed source states those figures, and the home-price paragraph was a city statistic outside the subject of this page, so all of them are removed.

The LGBT Rights Timeline in American History is the source for the later milestones: Colorado's recognition of same-sex marriage and the election of the first openly gay governor. Read its dated entries alongside the Opposition to LGBTQ rights article, which supplies the wider legal frame for the same decades.

Together the two sources give the arc this page follows: criminalization in 1860, decriminalization in 1972, Amendment 2 in 1992, and the later marriage and governor entries on the timeline. Details the earlier page attached to these years, including a signing ceremony, a state ranking and later elections, are not stated by either source and are left out.

Site pages cover the research and local context around this timeline. Each is described here by its title, and each is worth opening for the part of the story the legal dates cannot hold.

• Denver LGBTQ+ Archives: Where to Research Queer History is the page for readers who want to research queer history in Denver.
• Colfax Avenue: Queer History of Denver's Most Notorious Street follows queer history along one street.
• Denver Lost Gay Bars History: From the Pit to Blush & Blu tracks bars that have closed, from the Pit to Blush & Blu.
• Tracks Nightclub is the nightlife chapter of the same story, covering Denver's LGBTQ+ dance club.

For population figures rather than legal dates, the site's Denver LGBTQ+ Population: Statistics & Demographics (2026) is a separate page.

When did Colorado decriminalize same-sex relations? In 1972, making Colorado one of the first states to do so (Opposition to LGBTQ rights).

What was Romer v. Evans? The Colorado case that followed Amendment 2, which was passed in 1992 and prohibited LGBTQ+ protections (Opposition to LGBTQ rights).

When did Colorado recognize same-sex marriage? The recognition date is an entry on the LGBT Rights Timeline in American History, which is the source to check.

Who was the first openly gay governor in the United States? The election of an openly gay governor is also an entry on the LGBT Rights Timeline in American History.

Updated 2026-10-11: removed unsourced figures and the verified line; kept dates stated by listed sources.