By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics
Amid the staccato of legislation that Democrats at the Colorado Capitol adopted to expand what sponsors described as transgender “rights,” a growing number of parents are pushing back, arguing that the state government has overreached, impeding their ability to raise their children the way they see fit.
In the last few years, parents — and their allies in the Colorado General Assembly — have become more vocal in their opposition to proposals championed by progressive groups.
“I think everyone is concerned,” said Colleen Enos, director of government relations for Christian Home Educators of Colorado. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, everyone is concerned about what’s happening and how the state is trying to get in between parents and their kids.”
From the other end of that spectrum, advocates have rejected the view that parental rights in Colorado have been eroded. They said that one question boils down to where parental rights end and a child’s rights begin — and argued that more legislation is needed to provide the courts with greater clarity.
The clash is happening as America is experiencing what both sides have agreed is a cultural shift.
And that shift is often more pronounced in Colorado, where lawmakers this year advanced a proposal — though they watered down the final version of the legislation — that would have mandated the courts to consider “deadnaming” and “misgendering” in child custody cases.
J.P. De Gance, president and CEO of Communio, a faith-based organization focused on “the renewal of healthy relationships, marriages, and the family,” said changing worldviews are part of that larger shift.
De Gance pointed to declining marriage and fertility rates, which he blamed as the reason why many aren’t as focused on parental issues.
“You look back to 1970, 40% of households were married with kids,” he said. “Today, 17.8% of households are married with kids. I don’t think it’s accidental or incidental that these big sweeping changes or proposed changes to the responsibilities and rights of parents are occurring at a time when there are a lot fewer married parents.”
He added: “I think we can see it in legislative battles, because there are numerically fewer constituents who are deeply motivated by the issue.”
Like Enos, De Gance said the issue of parental rights spans the political spectrum.
“I think there’s a lot of folks who might be interested in the attack on the protections of children by their parents — people on the political left, as well as the political right, who are gonna be concerned about those attacks,” he said.
Animating that view is the idea that some in society seek less parental rights, with the state serving as a substitute for parents.
De Gance attributed that to “radical political movements,” saying the latter have sought to separate children from their parents so they can be “formed by the state.”
“The idea that in the United States parents need to be on guard in such a way that they are now is really a new thing, I would argue,” he said. “It’s a sign of growing concern that many people in our political dialectic believe that children are a common resource and that parents should not hold the kind of normative rights and responsibilities that they’ve always held.”
De Gance and Enos agreed that are exceptions. Neither is opposed to the state taking over in cases of child abuse or neglect.
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