{"id":16649,"date":"2025-09-05T21:57:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lt-governor-premiers-disability-rights-documentary-at-fort-lewis-college\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:00:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:00:03","slug":"colorado-lt-governor-premiers-disability-rights-documentary-at-fort-lewis-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lt-governor-premiers-disability-rights-documentary-at-fort-lewis-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Lt. governor premiers disability rights documentary at Fort Lewis College"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera addresses a crowd Wednesday before the screening of her new documentary, \u201cA Colorado for All: A Legacy of Accessibility,\u201d at Fort Lewis College. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Experiences of disability have long been prominent in the life of Colorado Lt. Gov. and disability activist Dianne Primavera, both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n

Her experiences and activistic spirit brought her to Fort Lewis College on Wednesday evening for an early release screening of the documentary she produced titled, \u201cA Colorado for All: A Legacy of Disability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film first premiered in late July at Colorado\u2019s 250\/150 celebration<\/a>, and \u201cexplores the state\u2019s rich history of disability rights and the leaders who paved the way for greater inclusion,\u201d according to a news release<\/a> by the college. This was the first public screening of the film outside the 250\/150 celebration, and the first of many in a lineup of planned college and university screenings, Primavera said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a place where culture, tradition and innovation come together to build community, and that\u2019s exactly what this film is all about: removing barriers, celebrating diversity and building communities where everyone can thrive,\u201d Primavera said of the decision to screen the film at FLC.<\/p>\n

Fort Lewis College President Heather Shotton spoke to the crowd before the screening, and echoed Primavera\u2019s sentiment that the inclusion efforts at FLC align well with the themes in the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur values here at Fort Lewis College around access and belonging and leading makes this a fitting place for tonight\u2019s event,\u201d Shotton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe help our students to think critically \u2013 we engage in critical discourse. We have hard conversations, we have important conversations, and so, we\u2019re excited to be a part of (this screening),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Audience
Audience members view Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera\u2019s film, \u201cA Colorado for All: A Legacy of Accessibility,\u201d during a screening Wednesday at Fort Lewis College. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Kathryn Paul, a student government senator, is registered with the college\u2019s Accessibility Resource Center, and said she was honored when the school reached out to invite her to the screening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some learning disabilities that I\u2019ve struggled with for a while, and (the college) reached out and invited me to come to this. \u2026 I was super excited,\u201d Paul said. \u201cI genuinely am just amazed with how supported I feel at Fort Lewis. I\u2019m a transfer student \u2013 I was up on the Front Range \u2013 and I just feel so much more accommodated in general here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film included former and current politicians with disabilities, leaders in disability access, well-known names in the world of disability education and activism, and even staff and leadership at a disability-forward restaurant in Englewood.<\/p>\n

Among the voices featured in the film were author and actor Megan Bomgaars, Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind Superintendent Tera Spangler, ADAPT leaders Gary Rosenberg and Wade Blank, senior adviser to the governor Josh Winkler, former State Rep. David Ortiz, 2023 Ms. Wheelchair Colorado winner Jennifer Ochs and former Colorado Springs City Councilor Yolanda Avila, among others.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, left, and Interim Vice President of Diversity Affairs at FLC Kendra Gallegos Reichle held a Q&A on Wednesday following the screening of Primavera's new documentary, \u201cA Colorado for All: A Legacy of Accessibility\u201d at Fort Lewis College. (Courtesy of the Office of Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Colorado
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, left, and Interim Vice President of Diversity Affairs at FLC Kendra Gallegos Reichle. (Courtesy of the Office of Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Primavera\u2019s personal experiences with disability, which inspire her in part to pursue projects like the documentary, reach far into her past. Her grandfather lost his sight in an industrial accident at a time when disability services were further out of reach than they are today, and she witnessed firsthand the struggles he endured from lack of accessibility. Primavera identifies as a person with a disability herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I say that this work and tonight\u2019s celebration is personal, I mean it, across every chapter of my life,\u201d Primavera said. \u201cAs a mother, as an individual who\u2019s been diagnosed with cancer on four separate occasions, and as a policymaker, I\u2019ve seen just how critical it is to remove barriers and open doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disability history in Colorado<\/div>\n

Though Colorado was ranked the best state in the nation in 2025 for people with disabilities, according to AAA Play<\/a> and the Colorado Department of Human Services<\/a>, Colorado\u2019s disability history was not always so progressive \u2013 a theme the film covers through historical happenings such as the 1978 Gang of 19<\/a> public transportation protest and the 1990 Wheels for Justice March<\/a>, where people with disabilities left their mobility aids behind and crawled up the steps of the White House to demand the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was one of the Wheels for Justice protesters at only 8 years old. She was included in the documentary, sharing her now-adult perspective on the protest and disability rights on the whole.<\/p>\n

The film also paid notice to the intersection between the historical mistreatment of Indigenous communities and people with disabilities in Colorado\u2019s \u201ctraining schools\u201d of the past.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, Primavera volunteered at the Colorado State Home and Training School<\/a> \u2013 also known as Ridge Home \u2013 for people with intellectual disabilities, and said she witnessed the mistreatment those individuals faced firsthand.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera speaks with community members Wednesday following the screening of her new documentary, \u201cA Colorado for All: A Legacy of Accessibility,\u201d at Fort Lewis College. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

To Primavera, the film is an opportunity to recognize the past and celebrate the present and future of disability activism and accessibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fight isn\u2019t over,\u201d Primavera told the crowd. \u201cWe know there\u2019s still more to do to ensure that (everyone), regardless of mobility, can fully participate in our schools, our economy, our government and our communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this evening is a moment to pause. It\u2019s a moment to honor the progress that we\u2019ve made and the people who made it possible. This film is a tribute to the leaders who paved the way, the communities that continue to show up and the future that we\u2019re all building together. It\u2019s a reminder that history isn\u2019t something behind us, it\u2019s something we\u2019re shaping every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

inclusion portrayed in film align with ethics at FLC, college president says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2045,1047,132,896,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-disabled","tag-film","tag-fort-lewis-college","tag-government","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16649"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20316,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16649\/revisions\/20316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16649"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}