Hundreds of veterans and their supporters gathered on the steps of the state capitol Friday afternoon, joining thousands across the country in a nationwide march against the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to Social Security, reductions in veterans’ healthcare, and federal job losses, among other concerns.
Protesters showed up from Lakewood to Crestone to Cheyenne Wells — carrying flags and homemade, cardboard signs reading “respect and support our veterans,” “Trump and Musk are traitors,” “We served, save the VA.”
The protests come in the wake of executive orders issued by President Trump largely focused on immigration, trade, and healthcare. Some of these policies have led to mass firings and significant downsizing of the federal government, with the Department of Veterans Affairs now among the latest agencies, which provides health care and other services to veterans, — on the chopping block.
The administration has proposed cutting more than 80,000 jobs from the VA, which is one of the largest providers of mental health care in the country.
“I know it hasn't happened yet, but I'm out here to support the veterans and to try to stop that from happening,” Margot Wilson, a family member of multiple veterans, said. “This is not political, in my opinion; this is not Republican or Democrat. This is about people and integrity and respecting what they've done to help and serve and protect us and the world. We need to stop the madness here. That's why I am here, a small voice, but I think it can make a difference.”
Wilson said she showed up on the steps of the capitol for her nephew and her friend—both army veterans. As she was holding up a cardboard sign with white painted letters, her nephew was just a few miles away at a VA facility in Severance Colorado receiving treatment.
“He was in Afghanistan, and he's got PTSD,” she said. “He's got a number of disabilities now as a result of serving in the war. He needs the VA; he needs the help.”
She says she worries what her nephew and her friend—who was a few hundred miles away at a similar protest in Boston—would do without the VA’s support and healthcare.
“The contract that we made as veterans, when we got out, we were promised when we signed on the line that whatever happened to us in the military, the government would take care of us,” Armand Peloquin, a long time Colorado resident who served in the Marine Corps for twenty years with two tours of combat, said. He was stationed at Camp Lejune, where the water on the base was toxic with high concentrations of benzene and other carcinogenic contaminants. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015. Peloquin says he showed up to protest on Friday for both himself and his fellow veteran friends and family members.
“I have a hundred percent military disability and if I lose that, I lose my house. I’ve got grown up boys, but I don't want them taking care of me. The government should take care of that.”
In addition to protesting the VA cuts, Peloquin says he showed up at the capitol building to protest the treatment of women in the military and the LGBTQ community.
“I don't care what sexual orientation you are, I don't care where you're male, female,” he said. “If you can pick up your buddy and have his back, that's the only thing that you have in a battle is that person giving their word that they're going to protect you.”
For Carol Smith, a transgender Vietnam War veteran who showed up to the protest, this is something she knows all too well.
“I am a federal employee and I am watching programs get cut left and right,” she said. “Right now, our trans soldiers are being threatened with being discharged from the service, and in some cases it has already started. These people are doctors, fighter pilots, black hawk pilots, infantrymen and sailors. I myself was a combat aircrew member in Vietnam and finished my career literally standing next to Ronald Reagan as he finished the Cold War. Trump is telling us that our service is dishonorable and a lie.”
Currently, transgender veterans represent a significant portion of the transgender population in the United States, and according to the VA transgender and gender-diverse people have served in the U.S. military at rates two to three times higher than the general population.
Earlier this year, Trump made an executive order to remove trans service members from the military. Since then, the Pentagon has begun establishing procedures for identifying service members and recruits with gender dysphoria to be separated from the U.S. military.
Smith says she is worried about the transgender community.
“These people are proud to serve our country,” Smith said of transgender service members. “They love our country, and they're asking for no special privileges. They just want to be allowed to continue to protect their neighbors.
