Colorado Governor Signs Extreme Act: ‘Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals’
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed an extreme “transgender” bill into law that threaten the rights of all Coloradans in homes, schools, the workplace – and more.
House Bill 1312, Concerning Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, was opposed by thousands of Colorado citizens who signed petitions, attended rallies at the Capitol, testified against the measure and made phone calls and sent emails to the governor and legislators.
More than 700 people registered to give public testimony on this bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee – 80% of those individuals opposing the measure.
The Colorado General Assembly ignored opposition to the measure, as the act passed along party lines with a Senate vote of 20-14 and a House vote of 38-20.
Governor Polis signed the heavily contested measure administratively, meaning he allowed the bill to become a law without physically signing it, on Friday, May 16.
As reported by the Daily Citizen, the legislation received such severe opposition – even radical LGBT activist groups expressed concerns about it – that it was heavily amended by the Colorado General Assembly.
Despite those amendments, the law still targets free speech, religious freedom and parental rights.
HB 1312, was labeled the “Kelly Loving Act,” after a transgender-identified man who lived as a woman.
Loving was killed in the horrific Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs by a “transgender” man who identified as “non-binary.”
Here’s how the unconstitutional measure threatens a variety of rights:
- The law forces educators and schools, both public and charter, to permit students to choose their own name, mandating that educators must lie if a student identifies as something other than their natural sex and chooses a name to match that identification.
- It requires public and charter schools to allow “each student to choose from any of the options provided in the dress code policy.” So boys may wear girls clothing – and vice versa.
- HB 1312 allows individuals to change their sex designation up to three times on identification documents. Courts may allow even more changes if “the sex designation change is required.”
- County clerks must allow individuals to change their name on marriage licenses.
- The law adds “chosen name” to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act and defines “gender expression” as “an individual’s way of reflecting and expressing the individual’s gender to the outside world, typically demonstrated through appearance, dress, chosen name, and how the individual chooses to be addressed.”
That last provision is especially important, as it adds the refusal of any citizen to use a “chosen name” to the state’s non-discrimination laws.
Teachers could be charged for refusing to acknowledge a student’s “transgender” status and could report parents who don’t affirm a child’s sexual identity confusion.
Colorado Child Protective Services and courts could consider a parent’s refusal to affirm their child’s disorder as discrimination, affecting custody rights and disputes. This was happening even before the act was passed.
Businesses and workers could be charged with discrimination if they fail to acknowledge the lie that a person can somehow be transformed into the opposite sex or a new, made-up “gender identity.”
In her testimony against HB 1312 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Daily Citizen writer Nicole Hunt excoriated the bill, saying, “This bill is misleading titled ‘Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals.’ A more accurate title would be ‘How to break up families and use the law to steal children from their parents.'”
By adding “chosen name” to the definition of gender expression,” parents could be viewed as discriminating against their own children.
Hunt stated the harms to children from pushing them toward transitioning.
“It would force parents to support dangerous, experimental drugs, hormones and surgeries for their children struggling with sexual identity confusion.”
“This is an obvious attempt to force state-sponsored radical gender ideology speech on Colorado families and it’s unconstitutional.”
She added, “Focus on the Family firmly believes that parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children including their healthcare decisions and their moral or religious training.”
Real protections for civil rights don’t take away the civil rights of others – as HB 1312 does. Opponents are already planning lawsuits against the act to protect Coloradans rights.
Related Articles and Resources
Colorado Legislature Passes Radical ‘Transgender’ Bill With Amendments
Education Department Warns Colorado: Children ‘Do Not Belong to Government’
Oppose Colorado’s Radical Abortion and ‘Transgender Rights’ Legislation
Radical Colorado ‘Transgender’ Bill Threatens Parents’ Rights and Free Speech
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