This morning, activists from Protect Kids Colorado and partnered organizations announced that their two ballot initiatives, both targeting the rights of transgender youths in Colorado, had failed to collect enough signatures to be eligible for the 2024 ballot.
“Although we were not successful in this round to get these issues onto the ballot, we were successful in educating Colorado voters about what is happening to children and motivating parents to become involved,” said a statement posted to social media by Gays Against Groomers’ Colorado chapter.
“Well, we didn’t quite make it to the ballot with this petition effort … but I echo everything my friends at [Gays Against Groomers said!” proponent Erin Lee posted to X shortly after. “We educated, we inspired, we built a grassroots Army, we brought people together… And we got more than 1/2 the required signatures with less than 1/2 the timeline!”
Lee’s claim that Protect Kids Colorado collected “more than half” of the 124,238 valid voter signatures cannot be verified. The Secretary of State’s office confirmed that proponents did not submit any valid signatures toward their initiatives.
The failed initiatives included Initiative #142, “Parental Notification of Gender Incongruence,” would have required schools to out transgender students to their parents; and Initiative #160, “Public Athletics Programs for Minors,” which would have effectively banned trans students from participating in sports. Two other ballot initiatives, pertaining to banning transgender healthcare for minors and parental access to children’s education records respectively, failed to be approved by the Colorado Title Board.
Protect Kids Colorado opted to circulate petitions through an all-volunteer signature gathering effort, rather than hire paid canvassers. The effort received support from multiple Colorado conservative and religious organizations, including a letter from the leadership of Colorado’s Catholic Church.
Protect Kids Colorado was formed earlier this year, boasting an alliance between prominent conservative political figures such as former state Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) and now-U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez (R-CO); anti-trans advocates such as Lee and Colorado Parent Advocacy Network leader Lori Gimelshteyn; and even a few Democrats, such as extremist anti-trans group Gays Against Groomers’ Colorado chapter leader Rich Guggenheim, and self-proclaimed “full time gender crank” Ellen Daehnick.
At a religious conference in Michigan in May, Lee revealed that Protect Kids Colorado had been formed with the help of Texas-based televangelist Lance Wallnau. Wallnau is one of the originators of the Seven Mountains Mandate movement, which calls on fundamentalist Christians to take over “seven mountains of society.”
“We have put the opposition *on notice* and [Protect Kids Colorado] is here to stay!!!” Lee wrote on X today.
In previous podcast interviews, Lee alluded to future plans for the group, including resubmitting the failed initiatives for the 2026 election cycle, as well as potentially suing “everyone who has stonewalled us.”
”We are under no illusions that extremists will stop their assaults on the transgender community,” said Nadine Bridges, Executive Director of statewide LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado. “While today is a significant win, our work continues. We are committed to upholding Colorado values to ensure our communities are protected and will thrive. We have established the Freedom for All Coloradans coalition and are ready and united to defend against any threat.”
Freedom for All Coloradans seeks to promote a ballot initiative to strike anti-same sex marriage language from Colorado’s state constitution. Since it was passed by a concurrent resolution of the Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature, the initiative did not need to collect signatures and will appear on the ballot.
