Colorado lawmakers pass transgender protections bill, now heads to Gov. Polis’s desk
Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Senate has passed HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals. If signed into law, the bill would establish new protections for transgender Coloradoans.
The House bill is also known as the “Kelly Loving Act,” named after a Transgender woman who was killed in the 2022 Club Q shooting. Kelly Loving was at the nightclub celebrating her birthday, which had happened just a few days prior.
READ MORE: Colorado bill honoring Club Q shooting victim seeks to expand protections for transgender people
HB25-1312 now sits on Governor Polis’s desk. If he signs the bill, multiple sections would go into effect immediately.
Protections that would immediately go into effect include expanding the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act to include “misgendering” and “deadnaming” as acts of discrimination.
It would also immediately grant transgender Coloradoans the ability to change their name on marriage licenses, allowing the state to issue a new license while essentially wiping the old one from the system.
However, sections regarding the change of an individual’s sex designation on their license, learner’s permit, or identification documents wouldn’t go into effect on Oct. 1, 2026. Those changes would allow a person to change their sex designation up to three times before having to get a court order indicating that a sex designation change is required. Current law allows only one change before requiring a court order.
One of the biggest points of contention for the bill has been how it will impact Colorado school districts, as it would require each district to adopt a “safe school plan.”
That would require districts to update their codes of conduct to include fair equal treatment of all students, adopt a dress code that lets students choose any approved clothing option regardless of gender, and require a student’s chosen name to be used.
Jason Jorgenson, a local parent and Colorado Springs School District 11 board member, says the bill is an example of governmental overreach and could “pit schools against parents.”
“My concern is that we’re going to have staff, support staff, counselors that are going to be having to walk this fine line of what can I do here?” Jorgenson said.
He’s calling on Gov. Polis to reconsider the text and possibly split the sections into separate bills. As for the Kelly Loving Act, he’s asking the governor to veto the bill.
“Ultimately, when parents see that their children are not going to be as safe or are going to be having the ability to do things that they may or may not know about, that right there should cause us to pause and to say, okay, what is this Bill really trying to do? Is it about protecting, or is it really just moving more power into the state’s hands and away from parents? And I think that’s my main concern,” Jorgenson said.
Supporters of the bill, like advocate Edward Sanders, say they are thrilled to see it making its way through the state legislature.
“It’s very important, especially for the trans children, because, unfortunately, parents are not supportive most of the time. And, I consider that abusive; it’s not right. Someone has to step in for these kids,” Sanders said. “Otherwise, as you talk to trans people all the time who are older and they describe the abuse, the nonsupport that they got, and the trauma that left them in their adult life. We want to prevent that for these kids and for us parents actually to support their children and give them the support that they need.”
Sanders has been an advocate for the bill and greater trans rights since the tragedy at Club Q, where he met the bill’s namesake, Kelly Loving.
“She was standing next to me at the bar that night, and we all got shot together and fell together, and she wasn’t breathing very well, and we tried to help her,” recounted Sanders.
Sanders says he survived by centimeters, a bullet just grazing his ribs. He says if that didn’t happen, he “would be in Heaven” with Kelly right now.
“She was just a light to the community. Everybody went to her with their problems and concerns. And same as Daniel [Aston], the bartender that night. He was the same way. Everybody went to him with their questions and concerns, and he was just open to talk and everything. Same with Kelly,” remembered Sanders.
Now, Sanders has taken up Loving’s mission as a trans advocate and is speaking up for others in the community in her honor.
“If we can do anything, especially in Colorado now, to educate and enlighten these people, maybe they will change. That’s my hope. And I hope that other states will pick this up and do the same. Kelly is a shining example of a wonderful trans person who was taken too soon,” Sanders said.
It’s now in Gov. Polis’ hands to determine whether the Kelly Loving Act will be signed into state law.
“Governor Polis appreciates the work of the bill sponsors and all the advocates involved in the bill’s progression, especially in removing the controversial changes to family law from the bill, and will review the final version when it reaches his desk,” a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office said.