Denver, CO –  One Colorado and Out Boulder County are working together as part of the “To Protect LGBTQ+ Coloradans” coalition to oppose all anti-LGBTQ+ titles submitted to the Colorado Title Board that would jeopardize LGBTQ+ equality in the state. Today, their organizations’ leaders released the following statements in opposition to two anti-trans initiatives, Initiative 142 and Initiative 160, recently approved for signature collection to make it onto the November ballot:

“One Colorado is aggressively challenging the surge of anti-trans initiatives showing up in our state,” said Nadine Bridges, MSW (she, her, hers), One Colorado’s Executive Director. “These attacks on the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado are not new. For decades, the far right has falsely claimed LGBTQ+ people are a threat to society. The people behind these efforts seek to smear and erase our community, forcing unnecessary suffering on our community, especially transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive Coloradans and families. What they fail to recognize is that Coloradans will not stand by silently, nor allow prejudice and discrimination to be legislated in our state. One Colorado has dedicated our team’s time and resources to stopping over 30 anti-trans initiatives, while also educating all Coloradans about the deep, adverse impacts these initiatives could have on our beautiful LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ Coloradans and allies are firm in our commitment to pursue a fair and just Colorado! We urge Coloradans to support the LGBTQ+ community and oppose these initiatives.” 

“One of these efforts is specifically designed to exclude trans kids from school sports programs,” said Mardi Moore, (she, her, hers) Out Boulder County’s Executive Director. “Our schools should be focused on providing the best possible education and helping to improve the well-being of all students, not actively harming students’ mental health and creating a hostile environment through exclusionary policies that single out certain individuals. Out Boulder County will do everything in our power to ensure our kids can be who they are and feel safe in schools.”

“These ballot initiatives are a huge step backward for the life and liberty of transgender young people in Colorado,” said Jax Gonzalez, PhD (they/them), One Colorado Political Director. “One Colorado opposes these initiatives because we can not allow the vocal minority to legislate their fears. Questioning the humanity of LGBTQ+ people remains a major catalyst for negative mental health outcomes of LGBTQ+ youth. For LGBTQ+ youth to have equal access to learning, educational environments need to be places of support for their identity development and sense of belonging. We urge our community and allies to reject signing these initiatives.”

“If you hear that this is about protecting kids, you are being lied to,” said Bruce Parker, PhD (he/him), Out Boulder County’s Deputy Director. “These efforts target and single out an already vulnerable group of kids and, if successful, will place an additional administrative burden on our already-overworked teachers, coaches, and school administrators and expose them to frivolous and costly lawsuits. We urge Coloradans not to sign these initiatives and to vote against them if they end up on the ballot in November.”

Additional information

Initiative 142: Informally referred to as “Parental Notification of Gender Incongruence”

• Would require forced outing of transgender youth.
• Would set extraordinary censorship precedent on the school system to report any student who dresses out of alignment with outdated gender stereotypes, regardless of identity.

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Initiative 160: Informally referred to as ”Public Athletics Programs for Minors”

• Would require school systems to categorize athletics teams based on ‘sex assigned at birth’ and would implement an identification process that requires a birth certificate.
• Would prevent transgender girls from participating in school athletics.
• Would eliminate opportunities for LGBTQ+ students to enjoy the benefits of school athletics including teamwork, fairness, cooperation, and community. 

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Citizen Led Initiative Process in Colorado:

Colorado is one of 26 states that offers citizen led initiatives, also known as ballot initiatives or referendums. This is a form of direct democracy that provides the opportunity for citizens to put forth policy changes.  While every state is different, there is a set of criteria proponents must meet in order to get an initiative on the ballot and in front of voters in the General Election.

In Colorado, proponents are required to meet several stages to make it onto the ballot, including the following: 

• Initiative language is introduced and must meet a single subject or single issue area requirement. 
• Once approved for circulation, the initiative has 6 months or until August 5th, 2024 to submit signatures to the Secretary of State. The initiative must collect 5% of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado Secretary of State in the preceding general election (typically around 125,000 signatures of registered voters). 
• If the initiative shows verified signatures of registered voters collected within the timeframe, the initiative is allowed to appear on the general election ballot in November.

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One Colorado is a 501(c)3 and is the state’s leading advocacy organization building a brighter future for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Coloradans and their families. 

One Colorado Action Fund is a 501(c)4 and exists to secure protections and opportunities for LGBTQ+ Coloradans through grassroots, local, and statewide organizing and lobbying efforts.

Out Boulder County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works collaboratively to create connection and provide advocacy, education, research, cultural events, and responsive programs and services that ensure LGBTQ+ people, families, and communities thrive.