Last week, a set of anti-trans initiatives was approved for Colorado’s 2026 ballot. The Colorado Times Recorder has been tracking these initiatives, and the anti-LGBTQ activist group Protect Kids Colorado that has pushed them with help from conservative politicians and religious ministries, for over two years. Here’s all the news you might have missed.
‘God Is Really Using Them:’ Fort Collins Activist’s School Lawsuit Spearheaded by Christian Extremists
By Jamie O’Rourke, Aug. 22, 2023
“I’ve been working with Erin [Lee] for the last year or so on that documentary she mentioned,” former state senator Kevin Lundberg said. “And I want to assure you and all your viewers that she and her husband, John, are the real deal. God is really using them to spread the word on what’s happening.”
Lee and Lundberg would go on to become founding members of Protect Kids Colorado.
Ballot Initiatives Target Transgender Students
By Sean Beedle, Feb. 21, 2024
Relegated to minority status in the Colorado legislature, Republicans are turning to ballot initiatives in an attempt to pass laws targeting transgender people.
Proponents of Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives Falsely Claim ‘Furries’ Run Rampant in CO Public Schools, Biting and Scratching Other Students
By Jamie O’Rourke, May 20, 2024
“A lot of children now are identifying as a cat or dog or an animal,” said Rich Guggenheim, a member of the anti-LGBTQ coalition Protect Kids Colorado, in a radio interview. “And this is part of the furry movement. And so kids are going to school. And in some schools across the country, we’re hearing stories where kids are using litterboxes and doing their bathroom duties like they would if they’re a cat or a dog.” His statement effectively rehashed stale, debunked right-wing talking points from 2022.
Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives Fail to Collect Enough Signatures; Cannot Appear on 2024 Ballot
By Jamie O’Rourke, Aug. 5, 2024
“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!”
As Trump Steps Up Anti-Trans Attacks, Activists in Colorado Revive Ballot Initiatives Targeting Transgender People
By Jamie O’Rourke, Feb. 13, 2025
Protect Kids Colorado began in early 2025 to prepare to once again submit initiatives to the Title Board in an effort to get on the 2026 ballot. This came in the wake of President Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office, during which he signed executive orders intended to bar trans women from participating in women’s sports and to cut off federal funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
BRIEF: Colorado Anti-Trans Activists Revive Ballot Measure to Restrict Participation in School Sports
By Owen Swallow, May 8, 2025
Rich Guggenheim, who led the Colorado chapter of GAG at the time, and longtime Republican strategist Michele Austin put forward an initiative that seeks restrictions on school sports. Austin owns Red Map Strategies. The initiative is also being represented by attorney Scott Gessler, former Colorado Secretary of State.
BRIEF: Anti-Trans Activists Once Again Propose Ballot Initiative Targeting Youth Gender-Affirming Care
By Jamie O’Rourke, May 22, 2025
The initiative aims to ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors, which it calls a “life-altering medical decision.” Specifically, it would prohibit healthcare providers from performing these procedures on anyone under 18 years old “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics.”
Turning Catholic Churches into Campaign Hubs, Bishops Instruct Churches to Collect Signatures for Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives
By Jamie O’Rourke, Oct. 31, 2025
Stepping up its involvement in anti-trans political campaigns, Colorado’s Catholic Bishops directed parishioners to gather signatures at church to place anti-trans initiatives on next year’s election ballot. This came from an Aug. 21 letter signed by then-Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, as well as James Golka, who Pope Leo XIV appointed as Aquila’s replacement earlier this year.
Christians Who Don’t Sign Anti-Trans Petitions Are ‘Traitors’ to Jesus, Says Flatirons Pastor
By Jamie O’Rourke, Dec. 17. 2025
Colorado’s second-largest megachurch officially joined the push to get anti-LGBTQ measures on the 2026 ballot. The lead pastor at Flatirons Community Church, which has five campuses across the state and plans to expand, called on congregants to sign petitions for the initiatives during a Nov. 2 sermon, which promoted a conspiracy that ties LGBTQ people with sex trafficking.
As Christian-Right Activists Push Anti-Trans Ballot Measures, Their Extreme Rhetoric is Ramping Up
By Jamie O’Rourke, Feb. 2, 2026
To most people, the word ‘plague’ conjures images of widespread infectious disease and death. It’s also the word that former GOP lawmaker Kevin Lundberg used to describe the transgender rights movement in Colorado.
Activists Now Paying for Signatures for Anti-Trans Ballot Measures
By Jamie O’Rourke, Feb. 12, 2026
An anti-LGBTQ organization pushing to get initiatives on the 2026 ballot has previously gathered signatures exclusively through volunteers. But with just days left to qualify, the group has now hired a professional firm. Ultimately, the initiatives surpassed the signature threshold required to qualify by over 40,000 votes.
This story also contains a look at Protect Kids Colorado’s internal data from the signature-gathering campaign.
National Right-Wing Donors Backed Out of Funding Anti-Trans Initiatives in Colorado, Proponent Says
By Jamie O’Rourke, Mar. 3, 2026
“We thought there was a professional funder who was going to run a parallel effort for these initiatives, and that fell through,” Lundberg said in a radio interview. “Because all of the big money around the country said, ‘Colorado, no, we’re not going to do this there.'”
