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Ari Armstrong Wins First for Op-Eds in 2026 Top of the Rockies Excellence in Journalism Awards
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
Last night the regional Society of Professional Journalists recognized my work with a First Place award for Columns/Op Ed Pieces for my article, "What's Next—Genital Inspections at Book Stores?" (July 23, 2025), for the Colorado Times Recorder. SPJ presented its annual Top of the Rockies Excellence in Journalism Awards in Denver.
My piece argues that a logical implication of a lawsuit filed on behalf of Born Again Used Books of Colorado Springs by Alliance Defending Freedom is that the bookstore would have to perform genital inspections. I ask, "If the bookstore's owners believe . . . they 'cannot' use a transgender person's chosen name and pronouns, then how are the store's clerks to follow this policy except through genital inspections, regardless of the age of the clerk or the patron?"
In recognizing the piece, SPJ noted, "The essay functions as polemical commentary rather than reporting, employing exaggeration to challenge the logic of a lawsuit concerning gendered language and compelled speech. This rhetorical strategy is sharp and effective in exposing practical contradictions, particularly where enforcement would rely on unverifiable assumptions about identity."
I've written a monthly column for CTR, an explicitly progressive publication, since 2023. Although I'm not a progressive in the usual American sense, and I also write for the conservative-libertarian Complete Colorado, my views overlap substantially with others at CTR in that I am a secularist and a strong critic of Donald Trump.
In all, CTR won eight awards in the "small newsrooms" category:
- Ari Armstrong, First Place, Colums/Op Ed Pieces, "What's NextGenital Inspections at Book Stores?"
- Logan Davis and Chloe Ragsdale, Third Place, Investigative Reporting, "Invisible Hand: The Man Behind Colorado Schools' Efforts to Ban Trans Athletes"
- Robert Davis, First Place, News Reporting Single Story, "Legal Protections for Trans People Are 'A Perversion of God's Plan,' Says Boebert at Worship at CO Capitol"
- Logan Davis, First Place, Informational Graphic, "Funding Stream for Advance Colorado, a Conservative Advocacy Group"
- Jamie O'Rourke, First Place, Politics News, "How GOP Legislators Manufactured Outrage Against a Transgender Rights Bill in Colorado"
- Jason Salzman and Erik Maulbetsch, Second Place, Politics News, "Five CO Springs News Outlets Scrub Their Websites of an Article About the Arrest of Former GOP Council Member"
- Logan Davis, First Place, Education Feature, "The Plot to Take a Local School District to the Supreme Court"
- Logan Davis, First Place, Feature Long Form, "Bully: The Crisis of Leadership in Montezuma-Cortez Schools"
Jason Salzman, editor of the Colorado Times Recorder, and Ari Armstrong celebrate the Top of the Rockies win.