Northern Colorado Beer Community Doubles Down on Queer Community

As corporations, big box stores, and even beer brands pull away from commitments made to the LGBTQ+ community, Full Expression! Dance Collective and New Belgium Brewing are partnering again to recognize PRIDE.

As fears of backlash from the federal administration continue to spread, causing rippling concerns about corporate support for marginalized communities, independent artists are still organizing in communities to provide safe and accessible spaces to socialize and recognize love.

Full Expression! Dance Collective founder Savannah Svoboda poses for a portrait at Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO. (Photo by Vince Chandler)

Well-funded corporate PRIDE parades, which have recently accepted money from sponsors
who have torn taps from gay bars and who facilitate war crimes and genocide, are panicking
about their ability to generate the necessary revenues from these again-retreating brands.
For many longtime residents and queer activists, Colorado’s Hate State moniker echoes again with the reminder of the tense position, our more liberal relationship to the queer community today. In 1992, Amendment 2 was approved by 53% of Colorado voters making it illegal to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

It was overturned the following year by the Colorado Supreme Court and only 30 years later our state would elect the nation’s first openly gay Governor. Of course, it was only last year in 2024 when 64% of Colorado voters approved Amendment J to repeal the definition that states only a union of one man and one woman is a valid or recognized marriage in Colorado.

It is in this context that independent artists and community-first artisan brands affirm their
commitment to the original spirit of the first LGBT civil rights movements, recognizing the
necessity to continue in spite of it.

“It’s so important for us to more centralize queer artists every single day, but especially today while we’re being so targeted,” says Full Expression! founder Savannah Svoboda. “If your intentions are to uplift and support, if your intentions are to be curious and educate yourself, and if your intentions are to be part of the community and not leave the community as an ally, then I would say this event is for you.”

Brazilian drag queen Krisa Gonna performs for a sold-out crowd at the Center for Creativity in Fort Collins, Colorado, during the Full Expression! 2024 Winter Showcase. (Photo by Vince Chandler)

Founded in 2018, Full Expression! Dance Collective is a queer-owned studio “dedicated to creating more safe and equitable experiences through movement, education, and community investment.” Their leadership and members unite in a mission to stand boldly and proudly as community which upholds the liberation of targeted and marginalized people.

According to their website, this includes but is not limited to race, gender, disability, age, immigrants/DACA recipients, people who are pregnant or seeking abortion support, religious minorities, socioeconomic status, and being part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Collective founder Savannah Svoboda is a CSU graduate, whose eight-year career in corporate recruiting, HR, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion prepared her to found Full Expression! She says her experiences as a queer woman, dancer, choreographer, and entrepreneur culminated in the collective’s goals of creating safer and more equitable experiences for performers.

“It’s pretty special that we get to tap into, not only the beer drinkers, not only people who are from Full Expression!, not only people who are for PRIDE, but also people who just care about what’s going on in our community. It’s perfect,” Svoboda said in a statement.

The ongoing partnership with Fort Collins community fixture New Belgium to celebrate the arts during PRIDE offers a welcome sense of comfort for artists and performers. Join them on Saturday, June 7th from 12pm to 7pm for a day of belly dancing, traditional Chicano ballet folklorico, Brazilian Beats, tap dance and more, all emceed by Krisa Gonna. Headliner Nini Coco, along with artists from across Colorado, will celebrate the intersection of queerness and the many cultures who today call Colorado home.

“When we partner with this space, that was founded on other values that come into alignment with our own, there is intersection there and so maybe the beer drinker who isn’t queer – and isn’t ever going to go to a parade – will find us here,” said Svoboda.

“We are proud to be the very first craft brewery recognized as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, with a score of 100%, once again earning a perfect score earlier this year,” said New Belgium Programming Coordinator Sydney Milner. “Additionally, each year we brew a unique batch of Biere de Queer with unwavering support of the LGBTQ+ community, with this year’s local release benefiting Rocky Mountain Equality.”

Brewed for All is a fundraising program created to capture the unique, vibrant, diverse, thriving voices of the LGBTQIA+ community and promote their inclusion within the beer industry. New Belgium created The Brewed for All program to support the efforts of local non-profits working for equal rights and visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community. During the month-long program, for every New Belgium Beer sold, New Belgium donates $1 to continue investing in communities that promote equity and inclusion for ALL.

“I love what Full Expression! stands for, they have welcomed not only my queerness, they also invited all my other identities,” says Krisa Gonna, a Fort Collins drag performer originally from Brazil. “You know, I bring Brazilian culture, Brazilian dance, and I think they are a very good example of how we can work together, within our differences, celebrating what makes us unique.”

Jessica Erickson, Kamryn Berry, Lex Loutzenhiser and performers gesture for the stage crew to receive recognition and applause during curtain call at the Full Expression! We’ve Got Magic To Do Showcase at the Rialto Theatre in Loveland, Colorado, in May 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler)

The second annual Full Expression! Pride at New Belgium Brewery is taking place this Saturday, June 7 as a celebration of being queer in the Colorado creative scene. Full Expression! PRIDE at New Belgium is both a performance and community celebration generating sustainable connections and partnerships. The Brewed for All program works to support the efforts of local non-profits working for equal rights and visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community.