DENVER (KDVR) — Democrats in Colorado are hoping a bill moving through the state legislature will add more protections for transgender people and gender-affirming care.

House Bill 25-1312 would create the “Kelly Loving Act,” named after a Club Q mass shooting victim. The bill would add misgendering and deadnaming to Colorado’s anti-discrimination law and divorce custody settlement considerations, and also give rules to schools on chosen names and dress code policies.

The House passed the bill on Sunday, and it will now head to the state Senate for consideration.

“Kelly Loving lived her life in a very powerful way where she wanted to create space and support other trans people to be able to live their full lives,” bill co-sponsor Rep. Lorena Garcia, a Democrat who represents parts of Adams and Jefferson counties, said Wednesday in an interview. “And when she is out celebrating her birthday and is murdered, is massacred by a mass shooting, it’s only fitting to make sure that this bill is named after her, that is trying to create more space for trans people to live their full lives and in their full dignity.”

Protections for transgender people amid national action

Garcia said the bill came about after a survey of more than 500 transgender Coloradans found areas where trans people still faced discrimination, harassment and abuse. Another co-sponsor, Rep. Rebekah Stewart, a Democrat who represents parts of Jefferson County, said increased suicide and mental health risks really show the importance of the bill.

“Everything in this bill really came from folks with that lived experience,” Stewart said. “And not being called by your name and who you are is one of the things that can just be incredibly painful, especially if it’s happening on a daily basis by people in your life in very intentional ways. And so, I think it was important to really name those (in the anti-discrimination act).”

Garcia said with this bill, she hopes trans people can feel seen amid national attacks from the Trump administration.

During his first few months returning to office, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders specifically targeting trans people in sports, in the military and in passport usage. Some of those measures face ongoing legal disputes, but Garcia said these and other Trump actions are indicative that the trans community needs protection in Colorado.

“This is a bill that will not only send a message to trans people in Colorado that we believe in them, care for them, and love them, and we want them to live healthy, safe lives,” Garcia said. “It’s also a message to the rest of the country that we are not going to tolerate hate from other spaces on our residents here.”

Child custody consideration prompts Republican parental rights concerns

House Republicans, meanwhile, say this bill is government overreach, and parts of it infringe on parental rights. Bill sponsors Garcia and Stewart refuted that.

The aspect of the bill that adds gender-affirming care to considerations in child custody divorce settlements, El Paso County Republican Rep. Jarvis Caldwell said in a Wednesday interview, does not take into account parents who do not agree with that care.

“My biggest concern in regards to parental rights with this is, how are you supposed to get your
child treatment if the law is saying that the only treatment that is not child abuse is gender-affirming care,” said Caldwell, who voted against the bill on Sunday. “So, if you don’t agree with gender-affirming care as a parent, then by law, you’re committing child abuse. And so that’s been a big issue with the Republicans on my side of the aisle.”

According to the bill’s language, a court, when making decisions about parenting time in divorce custody settlements, shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish gender-affirming care material as a type of coercive control. The court “shall consider reports of coercive control when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities in accordance with the best interests of the child.”

Stewart said coercive control is already Colorado law, and judges have a list of elements to consider in the bigger picture. This bill just adds the definitions of misgendering and deadnaming to that list of considerations.

Garcia also added that this only applies to those divorce settlements on parenting time, not monitoring how parents parent as a whole.

“This is not about monitoring how you’re raising your kids at all,” Garcia said. “As Representative Stewart said, when those decisions are being made by a judge, this is added to the list of elements that a judge has the discretion of using when deciding what is in the best interest of the child. The thing that’s important with coercive control is that it requires a pattern of behavior. It’s not a one-time mistake or happens one time or maybe twice.”

But, Caldwell said, this bill is part of a larger “radical” agenda. Garcia and Stewart said this is simply sending a message that all Coloradans are protected from hate.

Republicans worry about ‘radical’ policies; Democrats say it’s about being seen

HB25-1312 was one of several bills passed on Sunday that ranged from abortion services to gender-affirming care, and are part of a larger push in Colorado to add protections for communities facing increased threats in other states and federally.

Caldwell said this is concerning.

“I think when you’re talking about, you know, taxpayer-funded abortions, you’re talking about forcing parents to accept your ideology when it comes to gender-affirming care with minors. That is radical,” he said. “And if you look at surveys from the New York Times and others that most people, even including a majority of Democrats, aren’t on board with this kind of stuff. So, when we call it radical, we mean that in the sense that the majority of Americans don’t agree with this kind of policy.”

Instead, Caldwell said, lawmakers should focus on other issues.

“Focus on the issues that the people are concerned about, such as cost of living,” he said. “That’s one that we keep hearing. But instead, we’re doing these very ideological left-wing policies that are not stakeholdered with all sides of the aisle.”

Garcia, on the other hand, said this bill and others adding civil protections are important to giving Coloradans the dignity to live their lives freely. Stewart agreed and also had a final message for all Coloradans.

“We see you, we care about you and you are welcome here,” Stewart said.