Richard Guggenheim vs. transgender people

Richard Guggenheim is an American botanist, political candidate, and anti-transgender extremist. Guggenheim served as legislative director and Colorado chapter member of the right-wing anti-trans hate group Gays Against Groomers. Guggenheim identifies as “a gay man who resolved identity struggles without medicalization.”

Background

Richard Curtis “Rich” Guggenheim was born in 1980. Guggenheim earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, Idaho in 2008, a master’s degree from Colorado State University in 2011, and a doctorate from the University of Idaho in 2018. Guggenheim was an agricultural program director at University of Idaho from 2016 to 2018, then at University of Florida from 2018 to 2020. Guggenheim briefly worked for the Colorado Department of Agriculture in 2020.

On May 12, 2017, Guggenheim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (Case No. 1:17-BK-00593).

On June 18, 2021, Guggenheim was charged in Idaho with “Illegal Voting or Interference With Election.” According to the file maintained by the Heritage Foundation, “Richard Guggenheim was charged by the state with one felony count of illegal voting after voting twice in the 2020 primary election, once in Idaho and again in Florida. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to unsupervised probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service within six months, and assessed fees of $1,245,50.” On April 19, 2022, the case resulted in these conditions: “Unsupervised Probation, Obey all laws. Notify Court of change of address., 3Y, 04/19/2022, Active 04/19/2022 Comment: 100 public service hours to be completed within 6 months. Co CTS.”

Anti-trans activism

From 2023 to 2025, Guggenheim was legislative director for anti-trans hate group Gays Against Groomers.

In 2024, Guggenheim attended public deliberations on HB24-1071, a bill called Tiara’s Law, which proposed allowing transgender people convicted of felonies to change their legal names. Colorado legislators leading the hearings requested that participants refrain from misgendering and deadnaming trans people during their remarks. Guggenheim declined to speak under those conditions. In April 2024, “Gays Against Groomers, Rocky Mountain Women’s Network, Rich Guggenheim, and Christina Goeke (together “GAG”) then sued Lorena Garcia, Mike Weissman, Leslie Herod, Julie Gonzales, and Dafna Jenet (together the “Legislators”) in their individual capacities and official capacities as Colorado state legislators. GAG alleged that the Legislators violated their First Amendment rights by promulgating and enforcing rules of decorum that barred misgendering and deadnaming in legislative hearings.” Guggenheim and the plaintiff were represented by Endel Kolde, Brett R. Nolan, and Courtney Corbello of the Institute for Free Speech. The case was dismissed and upheld on appeal in 2026.

Guggenheim was a signatory on a 2024 amicus curiae brief prepared by Terry Lee Fowler and presented to the US Supreme Court in US v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s ban on trans healthcare for young people.

In 2025, Guggenheim filed to run for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District in 2026. A few days later, Guggenheim suspended the campaign after an Arapahoe County Republican official told Guggenheim to dress more appropriately. In announcing the suspension, Guggenheim said, “All the hours spent in testimony at the capitol, all the traveling across Colorado to support girls sports, all the time and energy spent going toe to toe and nose to nose with trans rights activists, being kicked out of gay bars, and being called every filthy word you can imagine could not prepare me for the way I was treated by county and state leadership within the Colorado GOP.”

On December 17, 2025, anti-trans psychiatrist Lauren Schwartz and a coalition of anti-trans hate groups and individuals including Guggenheim submitted a citizen petition to the US Food and Drug Administration with the goal to restrict or ban off-label use of prescription hormones for trans women and transfeminine people.

On January 20, 2026, Guggenheim posted a petition for rulemaking to the US Department of Heath and Human Services on “Prohibiting Funding for Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Minors.” Guggenheim stated in part:

“As a gay man who resolved identity struggles without medicalization (often distinguishing sexual orientation from GD confusion), I view these practices as iatrogenic harm: exploiting youth vulnerabilities to push irreversible paths conflating innate traits with social trends. Federal funding perpetuates this harm, contradicting HHS’s own science. This rule will defund experimentation, mandate comprehensive 6+ month unbiased evaluations, prioritize psychotherapy, close loopholes (e.g., no funding for referrals or WPATH-based training), and impose strict enforcement; safeguarding thousands annually while advancing justice and evidence-driven policy.”

In 2026 Guggenheim ran as a Republican candidate for Colorado Senate District 25 against Democratic incumbent William Lindstedt.

In 2026, Guggenheim was invited by the Colorado State University’s Turning Point USA chapter to discuss “transgender issues.”

“Rich Guggenheim, the GAG’s director of legislation, spoke alongside GAG Director of Content Joe Jameson, who noted he uses an alias. They opened the lecture by drawing a distinction between gender-conforming queer identities and transgender identities within the LGBTQIA+ community, framing the latter as a chosen ideology.

‘We have to stop coupling gender ideology and gender identity and gender expression with sexual orientation because it’s not the same thing,’ Guggenheim said. ‘I’m here to talk about an ideology that harms individuals, an ideology that is harming children, an ideology that is harming families and (an ideology that) is ultimately destructive to our communities and our society. There is absolutely every reason for us to embrace exclusion and be intolerant of an ideology that is destructive to our society.’”

References

Waskey, Chloe (April 23, 2026). CSU chapter of Turning Point USA invites Gays Against Groomers to weekly meeting, discusses transgender issues. Rocky Mountain Collegian https://collegian.com/articles/news/2026/04/category-news-csu-chapter-of-turning-point-usa-invites-gays-against-groomers-to-weekly-meeting-discusses-transgender-issues/

O’Rourke, Jamie (February 20, 2025). Anti-Trans Activist Who Called LGBT Democrats ‘Slaves on the Rainbow Plantation’ Files to Run for CD6. Colorado Times Recorder https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2025/02/anti-trans-activist-who-called-lgbt-democrats-slaves-on-the-rainbow-plantation-files-to-run-for-cd6/67605/

Toomer, Lindsey (April 26, 2024). Lawsuit seeks to remove requirement for respectful language in legislative hearings. Colorado Newsline https://coloradonewsline.com/2024/04/26/lawsuit-respectful-language-legislative-hearings/

Owen, Greg (April 5, 2024). Self-loathing gay group sues Colorado for the “right” to misgender & deadname trans people. LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/self-loathing-gay-group-sues-colorado-for-the-right-to-misgender-deadname-trans-people/

Levesque, Brody (April 5, 2024). Far-right Gays Against Groomers, others sue Colorado lawmakers. Los Angeles Blade https://www.losangelesblade.com/2024/04/05/far-right-gays-against-groomers-others-sue-colorado-lawmakers/

State of Idaho (June 18, 2021). CR01-21-23995 | State of Idaho Plaintiff, vs. RICHARD CURTIS GUGGENHEIM Defendant. https://static-legal.heritage.org/Voter%20Fraud%20Database/45th%20batch/Richard%20Guggenheim%202022%20ID.pdf

Selected writing by Guggenheim

Schwartz, Lauren; Guggenheim, Rich; and signatories (December 17, 2025). Subject: Citizen Petition Pursuant to 21 C.F.R. § 10.30 Requesting the FDA (A) Open aDocket, (B) Hold a Part 15 Public Hearing Regarding the Off-Label Use of Estrogen inNatal Males for Gender Affirmation, and (C) Consider Regulatory Action Including aBoxed Warning Under 21 C.F.R. § 201.80(e). https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/27871234-fda-2025-p-7321-0001-attachment-public-fda/

Guggenheim, Richard Curtiss [sic] and signatories (October 15, 2024). BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE THE LARGER DETRANSITIONERS COMMUNITY INCLUDING PUBLIC OFFICIALS, HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, AND RESEARCHERS IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS. US v. Skrmetti, No. 23-477 https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-477/328719/20241018182632065_241012a%20v2%20AC%20Brief%20for%20efiling.pdf

Guggenheim, Rich (Spring 2016). Meet our New Educator! Dig In! Spring/Summer 2016 Volume IX Issue 1 https://pnwpestalert.net/uploads/Spring_2016.pdf

Anti-trans coverage

Staff report (March 27, 2024). Gays Against Groomers and Rocky Mountain Women’s Network Sue to Protect Right to Speak on Trans Bills. Insitute for Free Speech https://www.ifs.org/news/gays-against-groomers-and-rocky-mountain-womens-network-sue-to-protect-right-to-speak-on-trans-bills/

Selected litigation

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit (March 10, 2026). Gays Against Groomers et al v. Garcia et al. Appellate Case: 24-1473. https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010111398382.pdf

United States District Court for the District of Colorado (April 4, 2024). Gays Against Groomers et al v. Garcia et al. Case No. 1:24-cv-00913. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/gays-against-groomers-v-julie-gonzales-complaint-us-district-of-colorado.pdf

Media

The Mandy Connell Podcast with Mandy Connell and Rich Guggenheim (May 29, 2025). 05-29-25 Interview – Rich Guggenheim – Gays Against Groomers is Still Fighting the Good Fight. https://www.iheart.com/content/2025-05-29-88-the-mandy-connell-podcast-05-29-25-interview-rich-guggenheim-gays-agains/

Independence Institute TV / Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara and Rich Guggenheim (February 8, 2024). Ep. 66 – Gays Against Groomers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O9ZN3jYHvY