By Erin Lee | Guest Columnist
Colorado is one of 24 states to have a Citizens Ballot Initiative process.
Coloradans, that means “We the People” have a process by which to make law. Article V, Section II, Item 2.0, of the Colorado Constitution clearly lays out the people’s process by stating: “The first power hereby reserved by the people is the initiative…” The FIRST power.
The United States and Colorado Constitutions were founded on the principles of individual rights and “We The People” maintaining those fundamental and inalienable rights. It’s the reason the American experiment has been and can continue to be the most successful Constitutional Republic in the world.
As Coloradans are becoming increasingly aware, our state leadership is off the rails. The laws coming from radical socialists in the People’s House are unfathomable. They increasingly infringe upon and strip our individual freedoms in this state, especially the right to raise our own families and for children to grow up free from harm.
In 2019, Gov. Jared Polis signed into law House Bill 1120, which lowered the age of mental health consent to 12 and HB 1129 which outlawed “conversion therapy”, with specific language making it illegal to do anything other than affirm gender-confused youth. The people passing these bills use the term “youth” to give rights to children that should require parental involvement: like psychotherapy at 12 without parent knowledge and abortion at any age without parental consent. They are essentially emancipating our children from parents and into the authority of the state.
Believe it or not, in Colorado, we are fortunate to have some of the most citizen-forward lawmaking abilities in the country. Yes, THIS Colorado. Here we can actually put forth citizens’ ballot initiatives to create law.
To combat the radical legislation, the stifling of free speech and the complete disregard for the voice of the people happening under the golden dome, a new organization called Protect Kids Colorado has been formed. Protect Kids Colorado is a broad collation of parents, grandparents and concerned citizens coming together to protect kids and strengthen families in Colorado through citizens ballot initiatives. You can learn more and get involved at ProtectKidsColorado.org.
As it turns out, Coloradoans overwhelmingly don’t agree with transitioning children behind parents’ backs, kids consenting to healthcare at 12 without parent knowledge or consent, parents being denied the opportunity to view materials accessed by their children in the classroom and biological boys competing in girls’ sports and changing in their locker rooms. So, they’re attempting to let the people have a voice on these issues.
The citizen proponents of Protect Kids Colorado’s initiatives have met an unprecedented hurdle in the very first step of this process: the Title Board. This is a purely ministerial body. According to the Secretary of State’s website: “The Title Board is comprised of the secretary of state, attorney general and the director of the office of legislative legal services or their designees. The Title Board determines whether or not an initiative has a single subject. The board does not comment on the merits of the initiative.”
However, in this pursuit of title for very clear and very single-subject ballot initiatives, the Title Board is continually showing bias and unconstitutionally rejecting the proponents’ initiatives. They’ve made such comments as “This initiative is anti-trans” and the word parent is “so broad and so unclear” that they cannot set a title. They implied that the voting public of Colorado does not understand what a parent is. They’ve even shown concern for the implications of this initiative on children seeking abortions without parent consent.
Along with the misbehavior of the Title Board, proponents are continually being challenged by an attorney notorious for opposing any initiative that goes against Polis, the Colorado Education Association and One Colorado’s radical socialist agendas for our state: Mark Grueskin. He has gone so far as to include defamatory articles about the proponents of the parental rights initiatives, myself and Lori Gimelshteyn, as “evidence” that their initiatives are not single-subject.
So, a ministerial board comprised of the offices of Jena Griswold and Phil Weiser are illegally demonstrating bias against “We the People”, and the billionaires and millionaires radically running our state are paying attorneys to use lawfare against “We the People’s” process. Together, these parties have seriously hindered Protect Kids Colorado’s efforts.
But, Protect Kids Colorado is not giving up so easily. While they should have gotten title on all issues and moved to signature phase of the process on Jan. 3, Protect Kids Colorado continue to show up nearly every first and third Wednesday at the title board, with new and improved versions of these initiatives. When asked about the situation, Protect Kids Colorado board member Jeremy Goodall of Colorado Springs said: “They want to be ridiculous? That’s fine. We can be ridiculous, too, and submit these initiatives sentence by sentence.”
Protect Kids Colorado is asking you, the people, to pay attention to the Title Board process, get behind Protect Kids Colorado once they get to signature-gathering phase in March or April, and vote your values once these hit the ballot.
Protect Kids Colorado Board Members Kevin Lundberg and myself have released a film to help Colorado understand how serious the issues are that these initiatives combat. It’s available for free to watch and share at ArtClubMovie.com. Protect Kids Colorado believes nothing is more important than protecting kids and strengthening families in Colorado. And it’s up to “We The People” to protect the people’s process, our rights, our freedoms, our families and our state.
Erin Lee is a co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado. Contact her at [email protected].