Saturday, June 5, 2021

Trans/queer haven in Colorado seeks to be left alone

 NPR reported a few days ago out of Custer County, population 4255, under the headline "A Would-Be Trans And Queer Haven In Rural Colorado Just Wants To Be Left Alone."  Here's the lede:  

There's a 6-foot-tall fence going up around the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch in rural Custer County, Colo. The people who live there say they need it because they've been the target of harassment since they relocated the trans-friendly ranch there in 2020.

The perimeter fence will add security to the ranch, which also has newly installed security cameras. There's a tension on the property, so much so that co-owner Penny Logue and fellow owner Bonnie Nelson, both transgender women, carry pistols at all times. One wall of the communal geodesic-dome ranch house is stocked with various assault weapons.

"There's some degree where we want that [militaristic] perspective," Nelson said. "All we want is to be left alone."

The 40-acre property, apart from its status as a working sheep and alpaca ranch, also serves as a "trans and queer haven" southeast of the small mountain town of Westcliffe. Nine people live on the site currently, less than half of the planned occupancy long term.

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