Ending this week on a Friday the 13th seems kind of fitting.

It's been a volatile and disruptive week for this country with all the protests popping up across the US, including here in Colorado, over the administration's enforcement of immigration policies.

Now, while the protests and the many different angles to them are grabbing a lot of attention, they're not the only stories that warrants some discussion.

So let's get started with this week's Colorado Inside Out.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Kyle Dyer.

Let's get right to introducing you to this week's insider panel.

We have Patti Calhoun, founder and editor of Westword Penfield Tate, Denver attorney and community leader who has served in both the Senate and the House of the Colorado legislature.

Krista Kafer, a columnist with The Denver Post.

And Carlos Martinez, president and CEO of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado.

On the heels of the protests out in Los Angeles, we saw protesters in Aurora marching to the ICE detention center, and then we saw larger groups gathering in downtown Denver this week.

And there are even more protests planned throughout Colorado tomorrow, including in what are considered to be more conservative cities and towns all over the Trump administration's policies and punishment for those who are here in this country illegally.

Patty, I will start with you.

It has been a week.

And I was stuck on Tuesday night in in the protest, the kind of the ramp up to the no king's protest on Saturday when Splinter groups went on Lincoln and went downtown.

I have to say, these protests, for the most part, have been very peaceful.

They've been very organized.

And even the one Tuesday that went wrong when people were trying to block the highway, there were 18 arrests, most of them there.

It was relatively calm.

I think the Denver police are going to be working very hard thinking about all the judgments they've had against them five years ago.

What lessons did we learn from the George Floyd protests?

The response to the protests?

We brought in law enforcement from all these other towns.

I think Denver will be on its best behavior.

I hope the protesters are on their best behavior to promote just free speech.

Get out there and say what you're concerned about.

But let's keep away from violence.

It's really going to be critical.

I was there's so many people interested in this protest this year.

I was just telling you, one senior center is having a protest on Friday.

We have Parker where they wanted to cut off the protest part.

The Parker protest is going on just in a different location.

People really want to be heard on this issue.

Right.

Because Parker days is this weekend.

So the people giving out the permit said, we've got too much going on, but they're still meeting in.

Parker Pen.

You know, the reality is, is if you're paying attention, you cannot be surprised about the fact that people are so pissed off that they're protesting in the streets and it's because this entire thing is no longer about immigration enforcement or immigration policy.

You know, the federal government is not interested in protecting the kids of immigrants who have been removed.

They're not interested in safer communities.

All of this in L.A. is a perfect illustration.

All of this is about Donald Trump trying to figure out a way to extend and exert more power as president over the American people, And the worst part of this is Congress has now become complicit.

They have let him take over this agenda.

I mean, when's the last time a president called out the National Guard over the objection of a governor in a state like never, even during the civil rights movement?

Even then, when presidents got the National Guard involved, they consulted with governors.

So you can't be amazed that people are in the streets protesting.

This is going to get worse before it gets better because he and Pete Hegseth are going to escalate.

Krissah, your.

Thoughts?

On one hand, if you're somewhere illegally, there's always a chance you're going to get deported.

I've had friends that have lived in other countries.

As soon as it was discovered that they weren't there legally, they got sent back here.

So that's always a risk.

On the other hand, everyone deserves due process, whether you're here legally or illegally, you get due process.

And the fact that people are not getting due process is is a problem and it's a problem with protesting.

I also think about those students who are here legally with visas, who had their visas revoked simply because they had a different opinion on the Israel-Palestine situation, and they've been kicked out of this country.

I think that's worth protesting, but a little, I guess, free free advice to to those doing protests, a little PR advice, don't throw things, don't break stuff, don't inconvenience people, don't wait for and flags don't tussle with with police.

All of that is going to make you less sympathetic and your voice less sympathetic to people who are listening.

Stay calm.

Clean up your trash.

You know, don't seek violence.

Instead, get your message out that due process is being violated and that we need to have that right restored for everyone.

Can I just add something, Crystal, to your point?

That's exactly why the civil rights movement of the sixties was so effective, because Dr. King practiced, you know, civil disobedience and not engaging.

So when people saw police dogs and fire hydrants turned on blacks who weren't doing anything except dissembling, they said this is wrong.

Exactly.

Thanks for that perspective, Carlos.

Yes, Just like Crenshaw said, you know, this abuse of power.

And I think what is concerning for me also is people have the right to protest, right to free, right to free speech, is that he's trying to militarize that behavior, you know, in a way that has never been done before in our country about protesting.

Let's get the military out there.

So what you're seeing, like what you're seeing in L.A., you're seeing the National Guard, you're seeing, you know, Marines, you're seeing people with their faces covered.

And it's kind of like making it seem like it's a war zone.

And I think that really concerns me because on the other side, what I also see during these protests is a lot of love for my neighbor.

Okay.

It's a lot of people coming out there who don't even know people who are being arrested from these raids and saying, you know, keep my neighbors here.

You know, don't split up these families.

And I think what we're seeing with these protests coming up here through Colorado and throughout the country as well is really people saying, you know what, we really think differently.

We really care about our neighbors.

We really we care about people in our community.

So I see it a little bit different way.

Okay.

All right.

You know, the way leaders are engaging in this evolving story is also under the microscope.

And in some cases, leaders are headed to court.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis is being sued for violating the state law when agreeing to allowing personal information to be shared with immigration authorities, personal information of people who live here in Colorado.

Now, the suit originated with one state worker, but now has the backing pen of a rather large union in our state.

You know, it does.

And this is just an extension of the topic we just covered.

I understand on the face of it why Governor Polis directed compliance with the subpoena.

Quite frankly, the subpoena wasn't signed by a judge but wasn't filled out correctly.

These subpoenas are supposed to be issued when you're dealing with a criminal investigation or some sort of immediate threat.

That's not the case.

I was content reading and that's why the whistleblower then objected and didn't cooperate because ICE and the feds kind of changed their tune.

They said, well, you know, we're not doing a criminal investigation.

We're now being proactive and investigating to protect kids of immigrants who have been removed, to make sure they're in a safe environment.

Really, nobody thinks ICE is doing that.

What they wanted was data and information to try to expand the number of people they could snatch up and deport.

And send out of the country.

So I hope Iris gets resolved sooner rather than later.

The next court date is June 23rd, I believe.

I think so, yeah.

Yeah.

Kristen, My sympathy is with the governor in that he doesn't want to draw this administration's attention.

He draw the administration's attention.

Suddenly you're now losing grants.

You're losing funding.

You now have federal troops on your street.

So I get where the governor is coming from and the outrage that I've seen on the left, Senator Gonzales, for example, saying, how can he lead now?

Of course he can lead now.

I mean, I I'm a Republican.

I would rather see a Republican than a liberal Democrat in that seat.

But to say that because I disagree with him, he can't lead.

Of course he can lead.

And I think that he was just trying to do right by the state and make sure that we didn't draw that unwanted attention.

So my sympathy is honestly with him.

Okay.

So I think one of the things also that has been clear in the last few days about this is that he has support if you were to have gone the other way.

I mean, the community is supporting him, I think is what I'm seeing also.

And it's like, you know, step into it.

You know, if you don't, people won't have a proper documentation and so forth.

Say, no, and we're going to back you up.

And I think one of the things for me is just seeing, you know, both on the left side or in the middle, not saying, you know what, stand true to our our bills here and the legislation here in Colorado and we will be able to support you.

And As Penfield pointed out, the documentation was improperly completed and it was all over the place.

So it was like, you know, no stand guard and we will be behind you.

Pelosi has been trying to thread the needle.

We are not a sanctuary state.

We will comply for criminal activity for people who are in this country and pose a real threat to the country.

And what we don't know yet in this case is who didn't figure out that the subpoenas were improperly filled out?

Because it does sound like, yeah, we don't want child traffickers.

Let's protect the children.

But then it turned out none of that was done right.

So if the governor had admitted maybe through someone else under the bus and said someone didn't look at this right, I made a mistake saying it.

We'll find out a lot when he goes to court.

But you can see why 27,000 state workers who are members of this union stood up and said, we don't like this because it's private information when we have said we will protect that in Colorado.

I also think, Pat, he made a really important point, is that Pelosi is trying to thread the needle.

We are not a sanctuary state.

The reason that we have laws the way that we do is we want to make sure that even if people are here illegally, they still feel comfortable going to the police.

If a woman is being abused, if somebody has been robbed, maybe there's a, you know, any kind of a concern if people, whether they're here legally or not, have a legal concern, The crime is being committed.

They should feel comfortable being able to go to police.

Okay.

There is mounting concern over the health care coverage Coloradans will have if the federal budget bill before Congress right now is approved.

A majority of the 675 Coloradans who were recently polled said that they are against deep cuts to programs like Medicaid, which is included in this bill if it's passed in its current form and if premiums were to double making people think, do I really need to pay for insurance?

Could we be in a situation?

Could we be where a lot of Coloradans don't have insurance?

And that is a bad thought, Krista.

is a terrible bill for so many, many reasons.

But one of those reasons is not some of the reforms done to Medicaid asking able bodied people to work at least part time is something we should all be behind.

And this isn't about women with young children.

It's not about people with disabilities.

It's able bodied adults.

They need to be working and they need to be on track to working full time so they can get off of Medicaid.

The idea that Medicaid is kind of a lifetime benefit is is a problem.

So I think there's been some misinformation there.

Also about checking eligibility.

Again, an important thing to keep fraud out of the system.

As far as the other insurance issues, they really affect just the silver plan, not gold or bronze.

And the state has put so many mandates on those marketplace plans.

They want to bring down the cost.

They can do that, take away some of those mandates, allow people like myself to buy the products that I want to buy.

I don't want to subsidize stuff that doesn't interest me, that doesn't have anything to do with me.

I want to be able to provide for my own health care by buying an affordable plan.

Okay.

All right.

Thanks, Chris.

Sure.

Well, it's going to have a major impact on health care here in Colorado.

Let's just face it.

I think what concerns me the most are folks who are in rural Colorado, because not only will they not have access to health care, but a lot of these hospitals or major clinics are not going to be able to survive and they're going to have to close down.

And so where will these people go for health care?

Because for a lot of them, it's one third of their revenue.

And so when we look about who's on Medicare, Medicaid, excuse me, you know, we have a large percentage of our children, a large percentage which are low to moderate income.

Those two are equal about 76% who are on Medicaid, on Medicaid.

So a lot of those low to moderate folks are working.

You know, we've talked about Denver health and about how many people come outside of Denver to get Denver service to the Denver health.

We will probably even see that even more.

So it's going to go ahead and really put a lot more pressure on the front range health care system to be able to provide health care for those outside of that area.

So I'm very concerned about that.

As we look at the health care and the access to health care for folks.

Okay.

There's so much that's bad in this big, bad, beautiful bill.

But certainly the health care aspect is incredible because, as Carlos points out, many of these people are working.

They're working to the best of their ability.

And they're going to when they're going to be able to work less if they have to figure out how to take care of their health care in other ways.

Obamacare certainly was not perfect, but the state has been working to improve it, to improve different aspects, and I don't see anything in this bill that won't just send us back to square one where we'll have uninsured people who will then become a bigger drain on society because they will not be able to get any help until things are really bad.

And then they're going to Denver Health Emergency Room.

Or as Carlos also points out, the rural areas where access is so difficult already, it is just going to become worse and the final bills will go higher because of that.

You know, I have a daughter who's differently abled and is on Medicaid.

She has had a part time job for a number of years.

But one of the things that no one ever talks about, it's not whether able bodied people are getting Medicaid and aren't working.

It's whether able bodied people on Medicaid will be hired by an employer.

What what a lot of people don't recognize is some folks who are considered able bodied.

An employer won't hire them because they may not have the capacity to do the full scope of many jobs without assistance and or close supervision and or close direction, or they may present physically in a way that to the eye the employer doesn't want to be bothered with.

So a lot of the folks who are on Medicaid who are quote unquote, able bodied, are working.

It's not because they won't get up and go find a job.

It's because in many instances they've been discouraged because they apply for work and no one will hire them So the question we have to ask ourself is, as a society, are we better off having more people insured than not And I think this bill, like so much of what that Office of Efficiency did, they take a meat cleaver to a government agency they don't understand and just draw bright lines and bright lines don't exist in reality.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

We are approaching the halfway mark of Pride month.

And this weekend in Colorado, there are festivals and celebrations in Salida, Avon, Colorado Springs and Boulder.

And while the Spring City Council chose not to issue a proclamation like they usually do because it could engage in identity based or political gestures, that was the wording used.

The Colorado Theater Guild has made a different shift in a different direction while announcing this week its annual award nominations.

The Theater Guild is doing away with categories like Best Actor in a drama or Best actress in a drama, and moving forward to best Performer as a way to recognize that there are actors out there who are nonbinary and don't see themselves as a man or woman in that kind of category.

Carlos, I want to start with you.

So, first of all, Happy Pride month to everyone.

I think for me, as growing up as a queer kid and living in a world where it was either male or female, and for me, growing up, the male image was the Marlboro Man.

Okay?

And I never saw myself as that person.

I saw myself.

I still considered myself male, but I didn't consider myself that Marlboro Man.

And I think that when we in our society, I love the way our society is evolving.

Okay.

And being more open and accepting.

And I think that allows people to really step in to who they are.

MTV made this change eight years ago in 2017, so they did away with these like gender awards.

And was there any repercussion about that?

No.

And what it has done instead, it has really allowed artist to really step into their true creativity and be the best in who they are.

Right, Patti?

Well, a couple of things.

One, shame on Colorado Springs where we had the club CU shooting this not long ago for not being willing to make a proclamation like this.

But also whereas like the Academy Awards and the Theater Guild, then we started Best of Denver, what, 40 years ago, and we weren't going to divide up best singer songwriter by male or female, best politician by male or female.

Even 40 years ago, that was antiquated.

So good that people are changing.

If you want to give more awards, which is kind of the way society wants to go, then divide it up more.

You know, you can have best actor in a Shakespeare play with a dog in it.

You have a lot of different variations to give more awards.

But yeah, do not divide the sexes, the genders, the different kinds of the people they identify with, especially actors who are going to play other people anyway.

But to go into the transgender issue right now during Pride we just had Jack Scrafton Gratton, whose body was found and that's just tragic.

And people are talking about what's going on with trans now.

This women's sport is such a tiny part of a much, much huger issue.

Well, first, Carlos, thank you.

Happy Pride Month.

So, you know, as Americans, we have the right to believe as we want.

We have the right to love as we want.

We have the right to support the causes we want.

And it disturbs me to see pressure placed on businesses to not support certain things they have supported traditionally because one person in Washington, D.C., doesn't like it.

So they're now saying, don't support the things you've always supported or we're going to take money from you or we're going to punish you.

But, you know, it's culture wars and we're not telling you how to think.

But I'm about to have a parade.

It's going to be interesting to see if there's a Tiananmen Square moment during that parade.

I'm going to watch just to see if that happens.

But, you know, I think it's right that we we dropped some of the old divisions that used to exist.

And I'm glad to see changes come about.

I think people need more political courage to do things they've always done to issue proclamations and support all of our communities, not just some of our communities.

I will say this week, Habitat for Humanity for Metro Denver had a two day pride build and they had a great showing for new, new homes.

Well, I think Penn's right in the sense that when a business wants to support something, they should be able to support it without any fear whatsoever from the government.

On the other hand, I don't do pride stuff.

I don't really don't care.

I've got friends that were straight and are now gay, friends that were gay and are now straight.

I've got one friend who's a man.

He's living as a woman.

Honestly, I think he should take more pride in his exceptional economics work than in the fact that he now wears makeup.

I so, you know, I just I don't get into pride.

But if other people do, that's that that's totally up to them.

And they should do it right.

As far as the the Theater Guild, though, if you want fewer people to watch than make changes like this.

And I would say that a little PR advice for the Academy Awards, if they want to go this direction, they've already lost viewership.

They're going to get even less viewership.

And the fact is, is that most Americans do believe that sex is biologically determined and that there are male and female human beings, which is what science says.

If you want to go with something different, that that's fine.

But you're also going to have to expect that a lot of people are going to be like, Hey, we're not into this anymore.

So you want fewer viewers to go that direction.

This show is wonderful.

We have many different perspectives.

All right.

We'll leave it there.

Now, let's go down the line and talk about some of the highs and lows of this week.

We'll start on the low points.

We can end on a good note going into the weekend.

I'll start with Patty.

We've been talking a lot about free speech.

Free speech isn't easy.

We know that you pay a price in how difficult it can be to deal with free speech.

But Aurora's city council going virtual to avoid having too much public interaction is a big mistake.

I mean, city councils should be in public.

You can figure out ways to deal with the public comment.

Okay.

You know, a kid raises an Army brat on bases around the world.

We were taught about banana republics in puppet dictatorships in Eastern Europe because they'd have military parades in an effort to intimidate the citizens.

We're about to be there.

Okay.

My share of the week goes to Mike Lindell, the purveyor of pillows and conspiracy theory BS.

Little advice to him might want to stop defaming the plaintiff while you're actually at the defamation case.

It might be in your best interest.

Okay.

So for me, it's again, part of the big, beautiful betrayal bill.

And because what it has in there is to increase excise taxes for foundations, okay, who are charitable to go ahead and support communities.

The increase those excise taxes for foundations here in Colorado will mean that millions of dollars will not go into our community and instead will go to pay for wealthy people to have tax cuts.

Okay, Patty.

Another celebration this weekend, Juneteenth, it's back.

It's one day, not two, but it will have the same history of five points, the same music, the same arts and crafts.

So get out to Walton Street on Sunday night.

Right outside.

Yeah.

Here, here on that.

Just the loss of Sly Stone and Brian Wilson.

Happy Pride Month and support Vibrant Denver Putting money in the park Your golf course.

Okay.

Brian Vogt, the former head of the Botanic Gardens, his memorial services this week, he made that garden, the beauty, the beautiful place of paradise that it is.

And I miss him.

For me, it's just great to see how the LGBTQ community has evolved here in Colorado and that our our, our Pride parade is going on now for about 40, 48 years and our Pride celebrations for 51 years.

And it's wonderful to be able to know that we have that kind of rich history here in Colorado.

Yes.

Every weekend there's something going on and during the week as well.

Okay.

So when scrolling through a new site, as I do seemingly endlessly to prepare for this show, I stumbled upon an opinion piece that spoke to me and that I've read many times over and over is you President Amy Parsons wrote about her 1995 internship at the White House saying, Never could I have imagined that I would draw decades of strength and inspiration, not from the man sitting in the Oval Office, but from a 22 year old fellow intern whom I never spoke to.

Yes, Parsons interned with Monica Lewinsky.

It's an honest retelling of how she didn't support her.

The fellow intern, when news came out about the scandalous relationship between the president and his intern.

And she regrets it now, saying, I recognize that it is my responsibility to speak up quickly when I see someone being diminished, mistreated, or misrepresented.

Misrepresented, especially if they don't yet have the voice or position to do it.

I've always been a big fan of Amy Parsons, and I'm really appreciative that she has shared this personal lesson and also her admiration of Monica Lewinsky is such an awesome advocate for kindness and mental health.

And just I encourage you all to read this piece.

I could go on and on from our leader of the CSU Rams and a mother of two daughters who reminds us we have no idea of the powerful lessons we may learn from those sitting next to us.

Right.

Those sitting next to me.

Thank you for some insightful conversation this week.

Thank you for watching at home or listening to our podcast on Spotify or Apple.

I'm Kyle Dyer.

I will see you next week here on PBS 12 Happy Father's Day.

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