Happy Birthday, Kathy! • Free party • Sat, Aug 15, 2026

Saturday, August 15, 2026
Singing Happy Birthday at noon!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

You may be asking yourself, "Who tf is Kathy? And why are we celebrating her birthday?"

Who but Katherine Lee Bates, queer icon, fan of Pike's Peak and author of "America The Beautiful," that's who!

Join us on Saturday, August 15, 2026 as we sing Happy Birthday to good ol' Kathy (she won't be there) and enjoy some refreshments on us. Because what better time to celebrate the queers of the past who have help shape our great nation than the present?

Poet and activist Katharine Lee Bates was born on August 12, 1859. As author of “America the Beautiful,” she was one of the more notable queers who has shaped our country through her lens of beauty, optimism and hope for unity.

“The first draft of the poem was hastily jotted down in a notebook during the summer of 1893, which Bates spent teaching English at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO.  Later she remembered: ’One day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.’

Bates had personally experienced sexist prejudice and discrimination, had witnessed the ravages of the industrial revolution in both America and Britain, had seen first hand urban poverty and misery, and keenly wished for equality. It was this desire for an all-inclusive egalitarian American community that inspired the poem, which was written during the severe economic depression of 1893.” -Ponder, Melinda M. (2017). Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea.

Katharine Lee Bates was long engaged in a relationship, then referred to as a “Boston Marriage” or “Wellesley (the college they both taught at) Marriage” to Katharine Ellis Coman, fellow professor, social activist and “roommate.” ;)

“America the Beautiful” almost became our national anthem. Can you imagine? Amber Waves of Grain and Purple Mountain Majesties vs. the Rockets’ Red Glare and Bombs Bursting in Air? A big ol’ queer song about the great potential of our country, and yearning with wide open arms for a manifestation of brotherhood, equality and truth? Next time you see someone singing this song, remember that the words coming out of their mouth is lesbian love song (to her country). 

Let us remember that queer people have existed forever and will always exist.. and that some of us also like to hike. 

“O Beautiful” print lettered by hand by Arley Torsone and printed on a Risograph machine  by Morgan Calderini at Ladyfingers Letterpress in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2024.