In recent years, conservative culture warriors have attempted to demonize the LGBTQ community, with a special focus on transgender people, in the hopes of using these attacks to win over voters. This took multiple forms in Colorado this year, from battles in Colorado’s legislature to hot-button issues in some of this election’s most pivotal races.
Here is a roundup of the Colorado Times Recorder’s coverage of LGBTQ issues this year.
LGBTQ Issues in the Statehouse
LGBTQ Advocates, Legislators Plan To Introduce Name Change Bills & More in Colorado This Year
Jan 24 – LGBTQ advocates gathered at Town Hall Collaborative, a Denver community space and bar, for the “Legislative Kickoff” of One Colorado, the state’s leading organization for LGBTQ rights.
‘Here I Am:’ Trans Storytellers Honored at CO Capitol
March 28 – At the Colorado State Services Building on Thursday morning, legislators hosted performers from Motus Theater for its “TRANSformative Stories” project, which features monologues by trans and nonbinary Coloradans.
May 8 – As the 2024 legislative session wrapped up, legislators approved a resolution that would give voters a chance to strike anti-same-sex marriage language from the state constitution.
Lone Democrat Votes Against Freedom to Marry
May 15 – During the May 4 Colorado House vote for the “Protecting The Freedom to Marry” measure, which asks voters to repeal the ban on same-sex marriage that Colorado currently has in the State Constitution, one Democrat, Rep. Regina English (D-Colorado Springs) voted against the measure.
Anti-LGBTQ Ballot Initiatives
Ballot Initiatives Target Transgender Students
Feb 21 – Relegated to minority status in the Colorado legislature, Republicans are turning to ballot initiatives in an attempt to pass laws targeting transgender people.
Two Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives Move Closer to November Ballot
March 7 – The Colorado Title Board approved two ballot initiatives targeting transgender people in Colorado. “Public Athletic Programs for Minors,” which would require transgender athletes to compete according to their sex assigned at birth in school or intramural athletics, and “Prohibit Certain Medical Procedures for Minors,” which would ban gender-affirming care for anyone under 18, had their titles set during Tuesday’s meeting.
Two Anti-Trans Ballot Measures Rejected by CO Title Board; Could Be Ineligible for 2024 Ballot
April 4 – The Colorado Title Board reconsidered two ballot initiatives which took aim at the rights of transgender people in Colorado. The result: both initiatives had their titles revoked. Unless proponents can rework the initiatives and resubmit them by 3:00 PM the following day, neither will appear on the November ballot. As of publication, proponents for one of the two measures say they intend to resubmit their proposal.
BRIEF: Second Anti-Trans Ballot Initiative Approved for Circulation Following Supreme Court Ruling
May 2 – The just-approved Initiative #160, “Public Athletics Programs for Minors,” would force trans students to participate in sports according to their sex assigned at birth.
May 20 – Rumors of furry-identified students using litterboxes in public schools have been thoroughly debunked. But that has not stopped anti-LGBTQ activists in Colorado from repeating the claims in an attempt to stir up outrage.
DAVIS: On Holy Wars & Ballot Initiatives
May 23 – Right now, controversial leaders and organizations in the Christian nationalist movement are heavily involved in either promoting or defeating at least three major initiatives, inaugurating a new era of explicit religious involvement in Colorado politics like hasn’t been seen since the last personhood initiative failed in 2014.
CO Bishops to Voters: Oppose Abortion & LGBT Rights; Support Anti-Trans Initiatives
July 12 – Four Colorado bishops representing the Catholic Church have taken a stance on multiple upcoming ballot initiatives: vocally opposing measures to protect reproductive rights and gay marriage, and supporting potential measures that would negatively impact the rights of transgender youths.
August 2 – Earlier this year, activists from the Protect Kids Colorado coalition submitted numerous different ballot initiatives intended to target the rights of Colorado’s transgender community. By May, only two had survived examination by Colorado’s Title Board. Now, with the deadline to submit signatures coming up this Monday, some proponents said they’re confident their all-volunteer signature gathering effort can cross the finish line.
Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives Fail to Collect Enough Signatures; Cannot Appear on 2024 Ballot
August 5 – 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.
Conservative Culture Warriors & Anti-LGBTQ Extremism
Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry Abounds at Christian Homeschoolers’ Day at the Capitol
April 12 – A crowd of more than 200 people amassed at the state Capitol for an event led and organized by Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC). It’s the most recent iteration of an event that CHEC has held at the capitol annually for three decades.
CO Springs Librarians Concerned Over New HR Director’s Ties to Anti-LGBT Hate Group
April 22 – Employees of El Paso County’s Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) raised concerns during last week’s board meeting about Timothy Allen, the newly hired senior director of human resources, and social media posts about LGBTQ people and his connections to conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
Colorado Christian Homeschool Conference Still Featuring Pastor Who Advocated Death Penalty for Gays
June 6 – CHEC’s activism goes beyond just advocacy for religious homeschool education. Members of the organization have frequently advocated against LGBTQ rights, and some of those members are playing a key role in the conference.
July 1 – On a Colorado Christian organization’s online show, a noted anti-abortion activist spoke at length about a new legal strategy to chill LGBTQ-related speech in schools across the country.
Conservatives Attack Olympian as Part of Anti-Transgender Crusade
August 1 – Conservative anti-transgender activists in Colorado are using recent Olympic controversies to promote their political agenda and ballot initiatives, despite the fact that the athletes involved are not transgender.
Gays Against Groomers Event Outnumbered by Counter-Protestors
October 8 – A rally by Gays Against Groomers (GaG), a group that believes any form of gender-affirming healthcare is child abuse or ‘grooming’, was met with counterprotests. GaG, which was founded by a pro-Trump, conservative media specialist with ties to the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement, has held similar events, which it calls the “Stop the War On Children” rally, in Colorado before and across the country.
Non-Legal Name Change Battle Now Over Parental Notification
October 23 – School districts across Colorado are developing policies outlining how teachers and staff will honor student requests to use a chosen name as a result of this year’s non-legal name change bill. Pueblo’s School District 60 Board of Education passed just such a policy, with the caveat that parents must be notified if a child wants to use a name other than their legal name.
LGBTQ Issues in the 2024 Election
DAVIS: Allegations of Bigotry Rock Denver Democratic Primary
April 3 – Now, prompted by the news that Cecelia Espenoza held a fundraiser hosted by an anti-transgender activist over the weekend, some local Denver Democrats are speaking out about what they see as just the latest occurrence in a long record of discriminatory comments and behavior by the candidate.
‘That Email has Hurt Us’ — GOP Members Push Back on Party’s Anti-Trans Communiqué
August 20 – Montezuma County Republican Party Chair Lenetta Shull chastised Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams over the “transphobic email” the state party sent out last week during a Sunday evening “grassroots town hall meeting” held via Zoom. According to a recording of the event obtained by the Colorado Times Recorder, Shull raised concerns about the impact the email is having on the Senate District 6 race.
Analysis: Anti-Gay Threads Run Through Congressional Candidate Gabe Evans’ Adult Life
September 26 – “If gay marriages are allowed, the institution of marriage will have been redefined to include all of the perverted and immoral practices mentioned above.” Colorado congressional candidate Gabe Evans wrote those words in a 2004 letter to the editor when he was just 17 years old.
October 1 – One of the country’s top anti-gay-marriage conservatives, Michael Farris, who endorsed congressional candidate Gabe Evans in December, declined to comment Monday on Evans’ decision to vote for a pro-gay ballot measure that would remove language banning same-sex marriage from the Colorado Constitution.
Evans’ Explanation for Skipping Gay Marriage Vote Puzzles His Colleagues
November 1 – Colorado congressional candidate Gabe Evans is saying that his strident opposition to gay marriage ended long ago. But he was absent on May 4, when the Colorado House voted to put a measure on the November ballot asking voters if they want to remove a ban on gay marriage from the Colorado Constitution.
How Will Project 2025 Impact Protections for LGBTQ People in Colorado?
Nov 19 – For LGBTQ people in Colorado, the Nov. 5 election has been a mixed bag to say the least. Aside from Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump, Democrats nationwide have suffered defeat from Republicans, many of whom have articulated bigoted anti-LGBTQ stances on the campaign trail. But on the statewide level, Coloradans passed constitutional protections for abortion and gay marriage, and Democrats have largely maintained their control over the state legislature, albeit losing their house supermajority.
