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Backlash ignored: Senate approves HB25-1312 without parental rights protections
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Backlash ignored: Senate approves HB25-1312 without parental rights protections

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Proponents hail the bill as a civil rights milestone for transgender youth. But Republicans say it strips parental rights, embeds compelled speech into law and threatens custody in future court cases. After weeks of public backlash, failed compromise efforts, and a marathon Senate floor debate, Colorado lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to HB25-1312 – a bill that critics say severs parents from decisions about their children’s identities in school. The bill passed its final Senate vote on Tuesday with no additional debate or amendments. The House voted to concur with all Senate amendments and repassed the bill without further changes, sending it to Governor Jared Polis. The final version no longer includes the family court and out-of-s...
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“Parents Last”: Senate Democrats Advance HB25-1312 Despite Mass Opposition, Custody Concerns
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“Parents Last”: Senate Democrats Advance HB25-1312 Despite Mass Opposition, Custody Concerns

By Tori Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s controversial “Kelly Loving Act” is one step away from becoming law, after the state Senate advanced HB25-1312 in a party-line vote Monday night. The bill passed 23-12 following hours of floor debate—nearing an end to a legislative saga that’s drawn over 700 would-be testifiers, more than 17,000 emails from concerned constituents, and ongoing warnings from legal experts, parents, and educators. The bill started as an expansion of the Colorado Anti-discrimination Act (CADA), aiming to add gender identity and expression as protected categories in schools, courts, and beyond. Even after key changes, Republicans say it still threatens parental rights and opens the door to new legal trouble for those who disagree with progressive gender pol...
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Michelle Chandler stopped a predator — and uncovered victims who may never know
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Michelle Chandler stopped a predator — and uncovered victims who may never know

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice On May 11, 2024, at Nordstrom Rack in Lakewood, Colorado, Michelle Chandler caught a man filming her inside a women’s fitting room. She didn’t freeze or panic. Instead, she confronted him, pinned him to the ground and held him until help arrived – or so she thought.  What happened next wasn’t the swift arrival of justice. It was abandonment: by store employees, by security and later, by a system more concerned with procedure than protection. Chandler’s story quickly gained attention when she posted about it on Instagram. Social media influencers – including David Harris Jr. posted about the video. Local radio and National news outlets reached out to cover the story. And strangers from Canada to Europe responded, showing their support.&nb...
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Colorado Springs doctor ends teen’s exam after parents challenge gender identity question
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Approved, Daily Citizen, Local

Colorado Springs doctor ends teen’s exam after parents challenge gender identity question

By Emily Washburn | Daily Citizen Multi-state health conglomerate Common Spirit refused to serve a Colorado Springs family after parents objected to a doctor’s inappropriate and ideologically driven questions. Melissa and her husband, Carlos, are no strangers to the medical system’s disregard for parent’s rights. The devout Christian couple shuttled their four children to doctor’s appointments in several different states during Carlos’ more than 20-year military career. So, when thirteen-year-old Ricardo needed a physical to play football, the couple gave him a heads up. “I just asked, ‘Hey, if they ask you if they want us to leave the room, are you comfortable with that?’” Melissa explained. Years earlier, in Virginia, doctors had asked one of their daughters if s...
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Board members say the bill risks punishing parents, stripping local authority, and forcing schools into the middle of contentious custody battles More than 70 school board members and education leaders have signed a letter urging lawmakers to reject HB25-1312, also known as the Kelly Loving Act. Jason Jorgenson, secretary of the District 11 Board of Education and a lead organizer of the opposition letter, said HB25-1312 “risks encouraging youth to pursue a path of gender transition without appropriate parental involvement.” Andrea Haitz, president of the District 51 Board of Education, warned that the bill “risks placing schools in an even more precarious legal position, especially when parents disagree on matters like gender identity or p...
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Ganahl: From Superior Elementary to sex camps — Colorado parental rights under attack
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Ganahl: From Superior Elementary to sex camps — Colorado parental rights under attack

By Heidi Ganahl | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In 2018, as a mom of four with three of my children in first and third grade at Superior Elementary, I was shocked to learn that our young students were being exposed to confusing gender identity discussions without parental knowledge.  This was done through a program called Queer Endeavor at CU Boulder, which trained thousands of teachers in the metro area to integrate “queering the curriculum” around “problematic parents.” As a statewide elected University of Colorado Regent at the time, I felt a responsibility to speak out, warning that this was the start of a dangerous trend.  I was called a fearmonger and mocked.  But today, that warning has become a chilling reality. Colorado schools and universiti...
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Lee and Friday: We saved our daughters—HB25-1312 would’ve punished us as child abusers
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Approved, Commentary, National, State, The Wall Street Journal, Top Stories

Lee and Friday: We saved our daughters—HB25-1312 would’ve punished us as child abusers

By Erin Friday and Erin Lee | Wall Street Journal We are both mothers whose daughters went through a phase in which they believed they were boys. We never affirmed that belief, although their schools and much of the broader culture did. Eventually, our daughters recognized their true identities and ceased identifying themselves as “transgender.” A bill under consideration in Colorado (where Ms. Lee lives) would define parents like us as child abusers. The measure would harm vulnerable children and violate the U.S. Constitution in multiple ways. Lawmakers including state Reps. Yara Zokaie and Javier Mabrey have likened parents like us to Klansmen, and their legislation is expected to pass the state Senate and proceed to Gov. Jared Polis’s desk. A similar bill in California...
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Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress
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Approved, Colorado Politics, Commentary, State

Hancock: HB25-1312 replaces truth with dogma and calls it progress

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Colorado Politics From the rugged ridgelines of the Rockies now echoes a different kind of thunder — not from the skies above, but from the marble halls of Colorado’s State Capitol, where lawmakers are ushering in a bill that feels less like legislation and more like dogma. House Bill 25-1312, ostentatiously named the “Kelly Loving Act,” is heralded as a civil rights measure. But dig past the buzzwords and you’ll find something far more troubling: a secular creed imposed with such fervor it borders on religious zealotry — and as such, possibly violates the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. At the heart of the bill is a sweeping redefinition of “coercive control” in family law. If passed, courts would be mandated to treat “deadnaming” and...
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Enos: What rushed gender and abortion bills say about the legislature’s priorities
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Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State

Enos: What rushed gender and abortion bills say about the legislature’s priorities

By Colleen Enos | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Transparency is not really our current General Assembly’s goal. We would like to believe that our state government works for us, but the majority party in charge is more concerned with covering its own tracks to avoid any repercussions of accountability with the voters.  They also consider any opposing views or opinions to be dissent that must be squashed at all costs, even if it means forcibly gagging their opposition by disallowing all debate. This is not exactly an overflow of reasoned debate, which we would like to encourage amongst our lawmakers. For example, HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, was introduced in the State House on Friday, March 28th, at the end of the day and assigned to the J...
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HB25-1312 and the silencing of parents: What the Rocky Mountain Summit revealed
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HB25-1312 and the silencing of parents: What the Rocky Mountain Summit revealed

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice From court-ordered gag rules to the looming threat of custody loss, this isn’t hypothetical — it’s happening now. Colorado families gathered at the Rocky Mountain Summit in early April to share what it means to raise children under a system that increasingly treats concern as abuse. What happened at the Summit Held April 6 in Englewood, the event brought together medical professionals, whistleblowers and families.  Their message was clear: parents are being sidelined by courts, schools and legislation that favors affirm-only practices. And proposed legislation like HB25-1312 may take things further, redefining parental objection as emotional abuse under the law. The Summit marked a milestone for 14-year-old Chl...
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