parental rights

‘Protect Kids Colorado’ Qualifies Three Child Safety Ballot Measures for November

Protect Kids Colorado announced that all three of its state ballot measures to safeguard children qualified for the November ballot. 

In an entirely grassroots effort, the child safety and parental rights advocacy group gathered more than 500,000 total signatures for the initiatives.

The first measure, Initiative 108, would give predators convicted of trafficking children a life sentence; Initiative 109 would prevent males from participating in girls sports; while Initiative 110 would prohibit irreversible “transgender” surgeries for minors.

Protect Kids Colorado Executive Director Erin Lee announced the victory in a post on X, acknowledging the enormous effort from supporters: 

All 3 @ProtectKidsCO measures are officially ON THE BALLOT! 

# 108: The Children Are Not For Sale Act 

# 109: The Protect Girls’ Sports Act 

# 110: The Protect Kids from Irreversible Sex-Rejecting Surgeries Act 

People from every walk of life stepped up, sacrificed, and continue to fight for what matters. And because of ALL of you, the people will have a voice. 

In an email, Lee thanked volunteers who spent six months collecting signatures at hundreds of churches, grocery stores, ministries, colleges and signing events around the state: 

This is more than a milestone – it’s a historic, grassroots achievement powered by people across Colorado. What many said was impossible, you made a reality.
More than 3,300 petition carriers, 1,900+ notaries, hundreds of churches, and so many supporters stepped up – getting signatures, giving, sharing and showing up day after day. Every conversation, signature, and hour mattered.

Some volunteers faced anger and vitriol from transgender activists and their allies as they explained the ballot measures to registered voters. 

Collecting more than 165,000 signatures for each measure on a shoestring budget really was an extraordinary achievement. The Rocky Mountain Voice reported that Protect Kids Colorado raised $220,000 to fund the drive to place all three measures on the ballot.

By way of comparison, Let’s Go Washington spent almost $4.4 million to place two citizen-initiated measures, protecting girls sports and parental rights in education, on the November ballot. 

The notoriously radical Colorado Legislature considered three bills that would have done exactly what the ballot measures do – but each piece of legislation was voted down along party lines in House committees. 

The Children are Not for Sale Act, which would have given life sentences to those who traffic children, was defeated in the Judiciary Committee in a 4-7 vote. The Protect Female Sports Act was killed in the State, Civic, Military & Veterans Affairs Committee with a 3-8 vote. And a measure to Safeguard Minors from Sex-Altering Interventions failed to move forward, losing a 5-7 vote in the Health & Human Services Committee. 

So now, it’s up to Colorado voters to do what the Legislature would not: Give those convicted of trafficking minors a life sentence without parole; protect girls sports – and their privacy and safety – from male athletes; and protect minors from irreversible, body damaging transgender surgeries. 

Related articles and resources: 

‘Art Club’ Documentary — One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

Athletes Rally at Supreme Court to Keep Boys Out of Girls Sports

Colorado Committee Kills ‘Children Are Not for Sale Bill’

Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary

One Mom’s Journey Advocating for Children and Parental Rights

Protect Kids Colorado

Sign These Three Ballot Petitions to Protect Kids and Parental Rights in Colorado

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Top 5 Moments From Supreme Court Arguments Over Girls Sports

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Over Half a Million Signatures Collected to Protect Kids and Parental Rights in Colorado

Last week, Protect Kids Colorado submitted over half a million signatures to the Colorado secretary of state in support of three statewide ballot initiatives centered on child protection, parental rights and fairness in girls sports.

The citizen-driven effort represents an “unprecedented” and “against all odds” massive mobilization — not powered by a political party or corporate funding, but by more than 3,300 volunteers standing outside grocery stores, attending local gatherings and knocking on doors across the state.

Each measure requires at least 124,238 valid signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot. All three initiatives exceeded that threshold by a significant margin — though the secretary of state has yet to officially verify the signatures.

Here are the details and stats on each measure.

Stop Child Sex Trafficking

• Measure #108: Colorado’s Children Are Not For Sale

• Imposes life in prison without parole for anyone who buys or sells a minor for sex in Colorado.

• 170,000+ signatures collected and submitted.

Protect Girls Sports

• Measure #109: Protect Women and Girls Act

• Requires Colorado athletic teams to be specifically designated as male, female or co-ed. It unequivocally declares that only biological females will play in female sports.

• 170,000+ signatures collected and submitted.

Ban Irreversible “Transgender” Surgeries on Minors

• Measure #110: Protect Children from Irreversible Sex Change Surgery Act 

• Prohibits irreversible transgender surgeries for anyone under the age of 18.

• 164,000+ signatures collected and submitted.

Videos posted by Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, on her X account captured the moment boxes of petitions were delivered to the secretary of state.

The deliveries were more than just a step in the process — they represented hundreds of thousands of conversations taking place in parking lots and churches and at youth sporting events and kitchen tables all across Colorado. 

If the required number of signatures is confirmed by the Colorado secretary of state, Colorado voters will have the final say over whether these measures become state law. 

Earlier this legislative session, proposals addressing similar policy concerns as those raised in the ballot measures were introduced. In several instances, the bills were indefinitely postponed in committee — a procedural action that effectively kills them.

Advocates of the legislation (and ballot measures) view this as evidence that the citizen initiative is the only current plausible way forward to positively change the law.

Colorado’s Constitution specifically provides the citizen initiative process for exactly this kind of situation.

Focus on the Family is a proud supporter of this grassroots effort to protect children and parental rights. 

Since the signature gathering began, we’ve been encouraging our friends and allies to help the effort and sign petitions. 

Now, we wait prayerfully as the Colorado secretary of state verifies signatures, which is expected to take several weeks.

Congratulations and well done to Protect Kids Colorado and the thousands of volunteers who worked tirelessly to keep kids safe and protect parental rights! 

Related articles:

Sign These Three Ballot Petitions to Protect Kids and Parental Rights in Colorado

Colorado Committee Kills ‘Children Are Not for Sale Bill’

Protect Kids Colorado

Activist Erin Friday on Protecting Kids and Fighting ‘Gender’ Ideology

Read part one of the Daily Citizen‘s interview with pro-child activist Erin Friday here.

Child Protective Services knocked on Erin Friday’s door in 2020 after she refused to treat her 13-year-old daughter as a boy. Now, the attorney and activist fights every day to protect the rights of parents who affirm their children’s biological sex.

Not everyone can draft legislation or lobby America’s most powerful leaders, as Friday does. But everyone can contribute to the fight to protect kids and parents from gender ideology.

First and foremost, Friday tells the Daily Citizen, parents must talk to their kids about sex and biology before LGBT activists do.

“Gender ideologues are getting to our kids in preschool, before we think we even have to talk about this,” Friday warns. “We just really need to get out in front of it.”

She suggests parents start teaching their children about their bodies as young as two years old, emphasizing:

  • Everyone’s body is beautiful.
  • No one can their change sex.
  • No one is born in the wrong body.
  • There can’t be a mismatch between your brain and body.

Parents can teach these foundational concepts using Focus on the Family-approved children’s books like I Don’t Have to Choose, Elephants are Not Birds and She is She.

You can access the full list of age-appropriate books here.

Parents should also teach their kids to distrust people who encourage them to hide something from their parents, Friday recommends. LGBT activists in schools frequently coach children to hide their sexual identity confusion from their parents.

“If parents don’t think it’s happening at their school, they’re wrong,” she emphasizes. “It’s happening at every school, including Catholic schools [and] private schools.”

Learning about gender ideology and its impact on kids and parental rights can feel overwhelming — but it’s not an impossible task. Friday recommends parents read Miriam Grossman’s Lost in Trans Nation and Erin Brewer’s Parenting in a Transgender World to get the lay of the land.

Focus on the Family offers a wide range of resources to help parents understand and combat gender ideology in their homes, classrooms, churches and communities. You can view the resource list here.

Education is just the first step toward joining Friday in the fight against gender ideology. Change simply does not occur without the courage and sacrifice of ordinary people.

“We need people showing up,” Friday says frankly. “It does us no good if people just complain about this and stay at their kitchen table.”

The easiest way to get involved, says Friday, is to write, call and email your political representatives to show you care about parents’ rights and want to see them protected.

Friday also recommends donating to nonprofits supporting parents and families — particularly those which help parents who do not affirm sexual identity confusion to fight for custody of their children.

If parents run out of ideas, Friday says her organization, Our Duty USA, will put them to work or connect them to local efforts to promoting parents’ rights.

To learn about parental rights issues affecting your state and find ways to get involved, Focus on the Family recommends contacting your local Family Policy Council.

The Daily Citizen appreciates Friday’s courage and clarity in protecting kids from sex-rejecting interventions. We encourage parents and citizens to use the resources above to get involved in the fight.

To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

Additional Articles and Resources

Counseling Services

Transgender Resources

Erin Friday on Family Courts, ‘Transgender’ Sanctuary States and Fighting to Protect Parental Rights

Proposed Executive Order Would Protect Parental Rights

Athletes Rally at Supreme Court to Keep Boys Out of Girls Sports

Indiana Family Loses Custody of Son Over Religious Beliefs; Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case

‘Art Club’ Documentary—One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

HHS Finalizes Report Finding Sex-Rejecting Procedures Harm Minors

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

Erin Friday on Family Courts, ‘Transgender’ Sanctuary States and Fighting to Protect Parental Rights

Erin Friday champions parental rights at the highest levels of government.

The attorney and mother spent last week on Capitol Hill, rallying to keep boys out of girls sports and urging members of congress to protect parents who do not affirm their children’s sexual identity confusion.

Earlier this month, Friday met with the White House Domestic Policy Council to propose an executive order she’d written to prevent family courts and child placement organizations from discriminating against parents who affirm their children’s sex.

Friday’s passionate defense of parents began in 2020, when her 13-year-old daughter declared herself “transgender.”

“Her school secretly socially transitioned her when she was starting ninth grade,” Friday told the Daily Citizen.

It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Friday’s daughter had never set foot in her high school, yet her instructors saw fit to call her a boy.  

“When I called the school to tell them to stop calling [my daughter] a boy and using male pronouns, they told me that they needed to be a ‘safe space’ for her,” Friday recalled, ruefully.

“I asked them to define ‘safe,’ which they couldn’t. Then I asked if I was unsafe because I treat her as a girl.”

A few days later, Child Protective Services (CPS) knocked on Friday’s door.

CPS did not take her daughter that day — in part, she thinks, because she emphasized she was an attorney. But Friday soon realized such happy outcomes are far from guaranteed.

“I learned about a women named Abigail Martinez, who lost custody of her 16-year-old daughter because she refused to socially transition her and treat her as a boy,” Friday remembered.

Martinez’ daughter committed suicide while in California state’s custody.

“I realized I had really dodged a bullet,” Friday told the Daily Citizen frankly. “I was really lucky.”

Friday successfully helped her daughter overcome sexual identity confusion  — without wrong-sex hormones or mutilating surgeries. Now, she dedicates her time to helping other parents through the same desperate situations.

As co-leader of the American branch of Our Duty, an international parental advocacy non-profit, Friday fields calls from parents across the country who could lose custody of their child for affirming his or her biological sex.

This isn’t a natural phenomenon, Friday emphasizes. It’s the result of training courses which teach family court judges, child advocates and social workers to consider parents who do not affirm their child’s sexual identity confusion as abusive.

Whistleblower Jamie Reed taught some of these courses between 2018 and 2022. She writes for the Free Press:

We trained the other hospital departments, the schools and the staff in local family courts on how to treat children we called trans: Affirm a new identity without regard for biology or the underlying causes of gender distress.

Courses like these don’t just taint custody rulings in cases where the government takes a transgender-identified child from their home. They also affect custody agreements between parents.

“It’s the same set of judges adjudicating both the child protective services cases and … run-of-the-mill divorces or breakup cases.” Friday explains.

“When there’s a dispute among parents over custody, and one parent [affirms] the delusion and the other one [loves their child as their sex], the parent who loves their child as their sex never gets custody.”

The executive order Friday drafted and proposed earlier this month would prevent federal money from paying to create or teach these biased courses. Instead, federal dollars could be used to fund counter courses reminding family court staff that affirming a child’s sex is in the child’s best interest.

The proposed order would also invalidate “transgender” sanctuary state laws, which allow states that support sex-rejecting procedures to take custody of transgender-identified children who run away from their parents.

Once in state custody, children can choose to begin sex-rejecting interventions without parental consent.

Friday used an example to illustrate how dire these cases can be for parents.

“Normally, when a child runs away into another state, that state says, ‘No, no, no. We’re going to send you back home where your parents are,’” she explains.

“The trans-sanctuary state laws change it so if a kid from Oklahoma runs to my state [California] because they are seeking sex-rejecting interventions, my state says, ‘You can stay here and we’re … going to figure out where you’re going to live, who gets custody and if your parents are bad or not.’”

At this point, Friday says it’s “game over” for parents:

The Oklahoma parents then have to litigate their case in California, a very trans-friendly state, and they’re going to go bankrupt. They are going to be flying back and forth, getting hotels. They’ll be lucky if they find an attorney to take their case. It’s game over as soon as their child gets to California.

California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia are all “transgender” sanctuary states.

Friday understands executive orders rarely create lasting change. She hopes Congress will make her proposed protections law. After her meetings last week, Friday says she’s “very hopeful.”

The Daily Citizen is grateful for the strength and effort of mothers and activists like Friday, whose courage and clarity will save countless children from the devastation of irreversible, sex-rejecting medical interventions.

Read Friday’s advice on protecting kids and fighting for parental rights here.

You can read more about Friday’s proposed executive order here.

Additional Articles and Resources

Activist Erin Friday on Protecting Kids and Fighting Gender Ideology

Proposed Executive Order Would Protect Parental Rights

Athletes Rally at Supreme Court to Keep Boys Out of Girls Sports

Indiana Family Loses Custody of Son Over Religious Beliefs; Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case

‘Art Club’ Documentary—One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

HHS Finalizes Report Finding Sex-Rejecting Procedures Harm Minors

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

Colorado Bill Would Force Parents to Accept Child’s New ‘Gender Identity’

The Colorado General Assembly is threatening parent’s rights if they oppose “transitioning” their child to a new “identity.”

In cases where parents divorce or separate, Senate Bill 26-018 mandates that courts take into consideration whether or not a parent supports a child’s “identity as it relates to a protected class” when “determining parenting time and allocation of decision-making responsibility.” 

The bill references a Colorado law that includes “gender identity” and “gender expression” as protected classes. 

A parent in a custody dispute who refuses to embrace a child’s rejection of his or her sex would be penalized by the court, granting preference to the parent who favors “transitioning” their child. 

This is already happening in Colorado — and across the nation — as courts and child protective service agencies are removing sexually confused children from parents, but SB 26-018 codifies this abuse of parental rights into law. 

The bill, Legal Protections for the Dignity of a Minor, also suppresses court records of a minor’s name change, hiding the child’s original name and sex. 

In Colorado, 14-year-olds can initiate a legal name change without parental consent, and one parent can petition to change a child’s name and identity, without the other parent’s permission, as long as a judge decides this is in the “best interests” of the child. 

The parent pushing a child toward dangerous, experimental “transgender” medical procedures gains an advantage in custody cases over the parent who believes in biological reality. 

This is the second year in a row Colorado’s state legislators have tried to force parents to agree with a child’s sexual identity confusion — or lose out in custody battles. 

In 2025, as the Daily Citizen reported, the state passed House Bill 1312, Concerning Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals. 

Governor Jared Polis signed the bill into law, despite vehement opposition from 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.

That bill originally had a provision which would have allowed the government to remove children struggling with sexual identity confusion from their parent’s custody if they “misgendered” or “deadnamed” their child — meaning they simply affirmed their child’s true sexual identity and given name.

Because of the backlash, that provision was finally dropped, but the final version of the bill still contained horrible provisions. HB 1312, now the law, allows a student to choose a different name and sexual identity while at school — and requires staff to lie by using the student’s “chosen name” and recognize his or her new identity.  

HB 1312 also requires 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. The law is facing litigation from several parents’ rights groups. 

Colorado is one of many states where courts and child protective service agencies are already attacking parents who do not support their child’s sexual identity confusion. 

Erin Lee, founder and director of Protect Kids Colorado, recently stated in an interview: 

I’ve now helped over a dozen families in Colorado who have lost custody of their children, even in two parent loving households, for not affirming their child’s gender confusion.

In a post on X, Lee pointed to families in Arizona, California, Indiana, Maryland, Montana and Texas where one or both parents lost custody of their children so they could be medically damaged by transgender interventions. 

The parental rights activist, who works to protect children from transgender harms, spotlighted SB 26-018 in a separate post on X, saying:

Once again, Colorado is passing laws to TAKE CHILDREN AWAY FROM PARENTS who will not trans them. If you won’t tell your child they’re born in the wrong body & sterilize them, the state will take them. (Her emphasis.) 

Lee encouraged Coloradans to fight back against this destructive legislation — as does Focus on the Family. 

Related articles and resources: 

Colorado Legislature Passes Radical ‘Transgender’ Bill With Amendments

Colorado Law Mandates Health Insurance Coverage for ‘Transgender’ Mutilations

Focus on the Family Testifies Against Nightmare Bill, Colorado’s Radical ‘Trans’ Legislation Advances

Meet Three Heroes Working to Protect Colorado Children

Parents’ Rights Groups Sue Colorado Over Radical Trans Law

Protect Kids Colorado

Radical Colorado ‘Transgender’ Bill Threatens Parents’ Rights and Free Speech

Sign These Three Ballot Petitions to Protect Kids and Parental Rights in Colorado