By Nicole Hunt | Commentary, Townhall
Just as a refreshing wave of reality-based, commonsense policy seems to be sweeping the nation, Colorado lawmakers are doubling down on “trans” policies that can only be described as absurd, unconscionable and unconstitutional.
For those of us in Colorado who still believe in parental rights and free speech, the speed at which our state is descending into a dystopian nightmare is terrifying.
Here in Colorado, transactivists control the State House, the Senate, and the governor’s seat. Whatever they want to do, however far they want to push the envelope, they can, and they did this legislative cycle. Some of the bills are so radical that even California’s governor refused to sign similar legislation.
This session we saw two radical trans bills pass both chambers. One of the measures prohibits free speech and would force parents to affirm their children’s sexual identity confusion or risk losing custody. The other bill forces taxpayers to fully fund transgender medical interventions.
And if that wasn’t enough, we even have a “trans continental pipeline” to move trans people here from other states.
The two atrocious trans bills are HB25-1312 and HB25-1309. The first makes free speech illegal, and the second forces health insurance plans and taxpayers to fund transgender medical interventions.
HB25-1312 received national attention because the bill made it illegal to “deadname” or “misgender” an individual. Parents who refuse to affirm their child could be labeled abusive and lose custody. The bill also directly challenges free speech by forcing schools and businesses to use anti-reality and biology-denying language at the behest of any trans individual or be sued for discrimination.
When concerns for parental rights were raised, supporters of the bill likened parental rights groups to Nazis and the KKK.
Because of the intense national spotlight, some trans rights groups expressed concern behind closed doors about the bill drawing too much attention. So, amendments were offered in an attempt to appease the public outrage, but it was all just a rouse.
Prohibitions on deadnaming and misgendering were technically removed from bill language, but new “rights” language was added to the bill’s anti-discrimination section including the right to use one’s “chosen name” and to choose how to be addressed (pronouns). Despite the amendments, deadnaming and misgendering are still prohibited in this bill.
In a real-world scenario, if a child attends public school and is influenced to change his or her name or pronouns at school, and the parents are not affirming, schoolteachers or counselors could report to the state that the parents are discriminating against the child. A parent’s non-affirming posture could be investigated by the state and determined to be abusive to the child. The state could then remove a child from the care of his or her parents for what the state labels as abusive and discriminatory behavior.
Even with amendments, the bill is just as heinous as it was originally.
This measure is an obvious attempt to force state-sponsored radical gender speech on Colorado families and it’s unconstitutional.
HB25-1309 did not received the same amount of fanfare, but it should have because it requires health benefit plans to cover any kind of trans operation you can imagine, including drugs, hormones and surgeries. Meanwhile, medical interventions have been shown to be detrimental according to a recent report by HHS.
HB25-1312 was recently signed by the governor. HB25-1309 still awaits further action from the governor but is expected to be signed.
Thankfully, four parents’ rights organizations just filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado over its recently enacted radical transgender legislation claiming it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
On top of all that, Colorado now has a “trans continental pipeline” to funnel trans people in the U.S. from “unsafe situations and political climates” to Colorado.
This so-called trans continental pipeline became official last year, when activists moved their efforts from the Tinder platform, where they operated initially, to an official website.
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