Cook Inclusive was founded in Oct. 2021 and provides therapeutic recreation and employment services to the Roaring Fork Valley’s disability, Deaf+, queer, and neurodivergent communities and fights for LGBTQ+ rights.

The nonprofit is hosting pride events Friday and Saturday in Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, showing its fight for LGBTQ+ rights. At Carbondale’s First Friday, the Pride Parade will begin at 6:15 p.m. On Saturday, at Two Rivers Park in Glenwood Springs, a Pride celebration will be held from noon to 10 p.m.

Reporter Regan Mertz sat down with Executive Director Ashley Stahl to talk about challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community nationally and right here in the valley.

The conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.

Regan Mertz: You recently became Cook Inclusive’s executive director, so how has that transition been into that role?

Ashley Stahl: It's been a really seamless transition. Previous to this, I was working as the Roaring Fork director, and largely, it was a stepping stone for all the stuff I'm doing. So, the role didn't really change, just the responsibility changed. And we've really been expanding into an area where I'm particularly comfortable. And so, it's been a very natural transition.

Mertz: And with things going on at the federal level with the Trump administration, like the president making an executive order that there are only two genders, him issuing another executive order threatening federal funding cuts to institutions that provide gender-affirming health care for patients under 19, as well as canceling grants to researchers focused on the health of gay, lesbian and transgender people in recent months, showing the urgency of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

Was this fight for LGBTQ+ rights something that you envisioned when coming into this role?

Stahl: I officially got the position in this role in January at the start of the year, and so we had the results of the election in November, so the fight for LGBTQ+ rights quickly became front and center. Directly prior to that, we received a donation that was ultimately used to start our new queer resource base in New Castle. And our plan with that was really not to start that until later in the year, in September or October of 2025.

Read the full article about Cook Inclusive by Regan Mertz at Aspen Public Radio.