About Us.
Rooted in our homelands. Guided by community.
Ignacio Out & Equal Alliance (IOEA) is a Native-founded and Native-led nonprofit serving the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute communities and Southwest Colorado.
We began by creating affirming spaces for Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ people. Through listening to our community, our work has grown to include cultural programming, youth leadership, health access, mutual aid, and pathways to workforce opportunities.
We center Native, Indigenous, and BIPOC people, whose needs and voices are too often overlooked in rural communities. Our work honors identity, strengthens connection, and responds to the barriers our relatives face every day.
Whether we’re gathering for a cultural class, connecting someone to care, or helping young people lead, our purpose is the same: to build a community where people feel safe, valued, connected, and able to thrive.
Our Mission.
To support, empower, educate, and advocate for the 2SLGBTG+ people of the Ignacio, Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, and surrounding areas by providing a safe, inclusive environment.
Our Vision.
A future where Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ people in Ignacio, the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Reservations, and surrounding communities are safe, valued, and free to thrive.
Activities.
Come Connect With Us!
From cultural classes and creative workshops to youth programs and community celebrations, there’s a place for you here.
Join us to learn, share, build friendships, and celebrate who you are.
Explore our upcoming activities and find your next gathering!
Mental Health in LGBTQ+ Indigenous Young People
48%
Nearly half of Indigenous LGBTQ+ young people reported experiencing food
insecurity, compared to just under a third of non-Indigenous LGBTQ young people
(30%).
77%
Over three quarters of Indigenous LGBTQ young people(77%) reported recent symptoms of anxiety and 66% reported recent symptoms of depression.
1 in 10
Nearly one in ten Indigenous LGBTQ young people(8%) reported having been
subjected to conversion therapy, and 70% reported experiencing an attempt to
change their LGBTQ identity.
54%
Over half of Indigenous LGBTQ young people(54%) reported seriously considering
suicide in the past year, compared to 41% in the broader sample of LGBTQ young people.
Information from The Trevor Project: The Mental Health and Well-Being of Indigenous LGBTQ Young People Report.
Exploring Body Sovereignty
By: Gillian Joseph (Dakota)
What is Body Sovereignty?
You may have heard the term body sovereignty before, especially in conversations about Indigenous communities, 2SLGBTQ+ people, and upholding the right to receive gender-affirming healthcare and access safe abortions. Body sovereignty refers to the right that every person has to be in full control of their body. This means that your body is a space free from other’s decisions, legislation, and ownership. Simply put, you are the authority on your body. Only you can choose how you spend your time, what to wear, how you want to experience pleasure, who you are intimate with, where you go, and what you consume.
#IndigiQueer
IndigiQueer & Here!
As a Native founded and run Two-Spirit LGBTQAI+ organization we honor those that came before us and work to create ancestors that our people would be proud of.
IOEA would like to formally recognize that the land that we operate on was unjustly taken from Native tribal nations we refer to today as the Nuchu (Ute), Diné, Apache, Hopi, Paiute people along with various other tribes who utilized this land in conjunction with each other.
This land you now call Colorado was and still is the home lands of those Native people who loved and nourished the land long before colonization and reservations.