Colorado State House District 16 Representative, Stephanie Vigil, will visit the recently revived PPSC LGBTQIA Club at 1 p.m., Thursday, December 7, 2023, in Centennial Campus conference room A351. The visit is an opportunity for Representative Vigil to introduce themself and share their priorities and thoughts on the upcoming Congressional session. Vigil’s campaign promise says that they will “fight for a solid foundation in life for every Coloradan.”
Vigil was invited to campus by PPSC student, Sheer Birchfield, who says that they thought it would be “a nice way to reopen our LGBTQIA Club” and that all are welcome to attend.
Vigil was elected to HD16 in 2022. The district includes a diverse collection of neighborhoods in central Colorado Springs and is bordered as far north as Dublin Boulevard, as far east as Powers Boulevard, to the south by Airport Road, and the West by I-25.
After taking office in 2023, Vigil was assigned to the Energy & Environment, and the Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committees. They have also sponsored several bills in their short tenure. Among the bills they have sponsored are the Advance the Use of Clean Hydrogen Bill (HB23-1281), Scope of Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise Bill (HB23-1276), Ozone Season Transit Grant Program Flexibility Bill (HB23-1101), Portable Screening Report for Residential Leases Bill (HB23-1099), and Amenities for All Genders in Public Buildings Bill (HB23-1057) according to the Colorado General Assembly website. The last of which is a major source of political debate.
As of May 2023, “more than 30 ‘Bathroom bills,’ as they are commonly referred to, are moving through legislation across the nation at record pace, with Florida, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas being the most aggressive,” according to an article published by the Human Rights Campaign.
Colorado HB23-1057 was approved in May 2023, and will go into effect in January 2024. The bill requires all new construction and qualified restroom renovations partially or entirely owned by state or local governments or institutions (including state institutions of higher learning) to provide non-gendered restrooms and accessible baby changing stations and included $450,000 in 2023-2024 fiscal year general funds for implementation, according to the Colorado General Assembly website.
Vigil’s sponsored bills and their upcoming visit to campus align with the values and priorities shared on their campaign website which says “we should strive to make it easier to access essentials like housing and healthcare and transportation, to start a small business, form a union, go to school, experience nature, and have a real-world opportunity to thrive. This great aspiration isn’t achieved by accident. We have to nurture it intentionally.”
Their visit provides PPSC students and others to have an open and intentional dialogue with an active congressperson about how we can partner to ensure the Colorado Springs community thrives.
