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THE BIG FOUR’S COLORADO BLUEPRINT: How Four Wealthy Donors Flipped a Red State (and Artificially Accelerated Transgender and Gender Identity Policies Through Massive Funding, Not Grassroots Momentum)
Picture Colorado in the summer of 2004: a solidly Republican state where the GOP controlled the governor’s mansion, both legislative chambers, most congressional seats, and key statewide offices. Four wealthy Democrats: Tim Gill, Pat Stryker, Jared Polis, and Rutt Bridges, gathered quietly and launched what they called “The Blueprint.” It wasn’t a spontaneous uprising of everyday voters but a calculated, venture capital-style operation funded by their personal fortunes. As detailed in the 2010 book 'The Blueprint' by Adam Schrager and former Republican legislator Rob Witwer, the 2014 documentary 'Rocky Mountain Heist', and Jennifer Bilek’s 2020 First Things article “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement,” this effort first seized political power for the Democrats in recent times in Colorado. Then it built a sophisticated funding machine that critics say unnaturally and artificially propelled transgender and gender identity policies forward: not through broad, organic grassroots support from ordinary people, but through coordinated billions from a handful of ultra-wealthy donors operating largely out of public view.
What started as targeted electoral spending evolved into a top-down philanthropy network that amplified “gender identity ideology” globally and in Colorado law. Early gay rights efforts had roots in small, community-driven groups facing real stigma. After gay marriage become legal, the push for transgender policies appeared to be a natural next step - but it was heavily engineered by elite money, secretive strategy sessions, and international channels. The result? Rapid policy changes that many feel outpaced public consensus.
The Gang of Four and the 2004 Electoral “Heist”
The group, nicknamed the “Gang of Four” or “Four Horsemen", bypassed traditional party structures by forming the Colorado Democracy Alliance. They funneled millions through 527 independent-expenditure groups, voter-turnout operations, and aligned nonprofits, treating politics like a startup investment.
- Tim Gill, Quark software founder, sold his stake in 1999 for about $500 million. Motivated by Colorado’s 1992 Amendment 2 (an anti-gay measure later overturned), he endowed the Gill Foundation with roughly $200 million (inflation-adjusted) for LGBT causes. It has since granted hundreds of millions more to the transgender cause.
- Pat Stryker, medical-device heiress to Stryker Corporation, channeled funds through her Bohemian Foundation.
- Jared Polis, openly gay ProFlowers entrepreneur (now Colorado’s governor since 2019), and Rutt Bridges, software & petroleum entrepreneur, completed this quartet.
In 2004, their donations overwhelmed Republicans: Stryker spending over $850,000, Gill nearly $775,000, Polis and Bridges over $400,000 each. Of $3.6 million in 527 organizations spending, nearly two-thirds came from these four. Democrats flipped both legislative chambers, for the first time in decades. By 2006, they added the governorship and more seats. Total early spending exceeded $20 million, locking in a Democratic “trifecta” that has endured for two decades.
'The Blueprint' explains the mechanics in plain terms: dubiously-funded nonprofits, targeted ads, and ground games that caught the GOP flat-footed. The 'Rocky Mountain Heist' documentary calls it a “heist” by a “shadowy cabal,” visualizing a “blue blob” spreading from Colorado as a warning of national replication.
The Funding Pipeline: From Electoral Power to LGBT Philanthropy
Bilek’s article ties this political takeover directly to LGBT advocacy. Gill and Pat Stryker, with the two other wealthy philanthropists used “ruthless political strategies” to turn Colorado blue while directing roughly half a billion dollars into groups advancing LGBT agendas. Gill introduced Pat’s brother Jon Stryker (openly gay man) at the 2015 GLSEN Respect Awards, recalling how they had “plotted, schemed, hiked and skied together” while “punishing the wicked and rewarding the good.”
Jon Stryker founded the Arcus Foundation in 2000. It poured $58.4 million into LGBT programs from 2007–2010 alone; with Jon personally giving over $30 million from Stryker stock. The family company, started by their grandfather, hit $25.1 billion in annual revenue in 2025 (up 11.2% from 2024), with deep roots in surgical supplies and medical tech. Bilek highlights this medical industry backdrop as relevant context for the scale of later funding priorities.
The Artificial Pivot from Gay Rights to Transgender and Gender Identity Push
Here is where the “not grassroots” reality becomes clearest. Early gay-rights activism grew organically from small communities facing discrimination. But after same-sex marriage victories, the focus shifted dramatically to transgender issues and gender identity ideology. Bilek documents how Arcus and Gill networks built on the Colorado donors’ infrastructure artificially accelerated this through top-down philanthropy, not widespread public demand or bottom-up organizing.
In 2008, Arcus hosted a key meeting in Bellagio, Italy, with 29 international leaders (including Jon Stryker). Michael O’Flaherty (rapporteur for the 2006 Yogyakarta Principles, which applied international human rights law to sexual orientation and gender identity) attended. Bilek notes the Principles “planted the seeds to bring in and attach gender-identity ideology to our legal structures.” O’Flaherty, a former UN Human Rights Committee member, is now Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, in office at his new job since April 2024, based in Strasbourg.
From Bellagio emerged the LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP) to coordinate advocacy on gender identity in law, education, and culture. The LGBTI Core Group, an informal UN-linked network of member states (including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights) formed with Arcus-funded participants like OutRight Action International. Arcus also backed the U.N with funding, alongside Amnesty International and GLSEN. Grants targeted Transgender Europe, ILGA, the Transgender Law Center, ACLU, Center for American Progress, and the 2015 Global Trans Initiative (at least $20 million committed and surpassed). These programs trained activists in “political activism, leadership, transgender law, religious liberty, education, and civil rights.”
The pattern is clear: This is not a natural evolution driven by everyday people. It is a billionaire-orchestrated infrastructure with half a billion spent in Colorado alone, plus hundreds of millions more donated strategically globally from Arcus and Gill, that manufactured rapid cultural and policy acceptance. Public perception framed it as organic “progress,” as meant, but the funding records, donor quotes, and coordinated meetings reveal a top-down strategy using wealth to bypass traditional grassroots organizing.
Colorado as the Proof: Policies Under Governor Polis
With the political safe haven secured, one of the original Four, Jared Polis, became governor in 2019. The Democratic trifecta delivered swift transgender policies:
- 2019 (Jude’s Law / HB 19-1039): Simplified gender marker changes on birth certificates (M/F/X) with no surgery, doctor’s note, or court order required; banned conversion therapy for minors.
- 2025 (Kelly Loving Act / HB 25-1312): Signed by Polis on May 16, 2025 (effective October 1, 2026), it expands anti-discrimination laws to treat intentional deadnaming or misgendering as discriminatory in workplaces, schools, and public settings; eases name/gender document changes.
- Early 2026: Bills advanced to seal minors’ name-change records for privacy.
These built directly on the donor-funded base. What feels unnatural to many was how quickly policies advanced once the money secured the levers of power. It also bring up the ethics and moral foundation of a governor like Jared Polis, who seems to have funded himself to immense power with false equivalence to an organically elected official.
The Deceit Debate: Manufactured Momentum vs. True Civil Rights
Trans rights activists call the moves of the Big Four savvy advocacy for equality. Opponents argue they are inherently deceptive. The trans/gender identity movement publicly appears as grassroots civil rights evolution. In reality, it seems driven by a tiny circle of billionaires using secretive roundtables, dark money, and philanthropy to scale ideology (including UN human rights channels), like they manipulated Colorado’s politics. The half-billion-dollar figure, Gill’s “plotted and schemed” quote, Arcus’s medical-fortune ties, and the Bellagio-to-UN pipeline all point to manufactured momentum rather than broad societal demand. Colorado served as the perfect laboratory before national and global export.
The Legacy of Deceit:
Two decades on, Colorado remains Democratic-controlled. The model inspired donor networks elsewhere. Gill and Arcus foundations continue granting millions annually. U.S. LGBTQ philanthropy totaled $209.4 million in 2023, with trans-specific funding still prominent. Polis is still governor of colarado, though his term ends in November 2026 and cannot be elected again. Whether you see the Big Four as visionary or elite operators, their 2004 effort of electoral flip plus sustained, targeted use of millions of dollars, clearly and unnaturally accelerated transgender and gender identity policies far beyond what organic grassroots movements alone could have achieved. It remains a case study in how concentrated wealth can reshape law, culture, and international norms. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Stay silent as the transgender industry and those standing to profit sway policy, or righteously fight the power?
REFERENCES (verified as of April 2026)
1. Schrager, Adam, and Rob Witwer - The Blueprint* (2010).
2. Rocky Mountain Heist (2014).
3. Bilek, Jennifer @bjportraits: “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement.” published in First Things, January 21, 2020.
4. Arcus Foundation grant records and Global Trans Initiative updates (2007–2025).
5. Stryker Corporation 2025 revenue annual results
6. Colorado legislative records: Jude’s Law (2019); Kelly Loving Act (HB 25-1312, signed May 2025)
7. Council of Europe: Michael O’Flaherty Commissioner records and 2026 activities.
8. Gill Foundation and LGBTQ funders tracking reports (2023–2025).
All details cross-checked against public records, foundation filings, legislative histories, and recent reporting for accuracy.
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