Colorado’s quiet revival: A custody provision lawmakers stripped is back in SB26-018

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice

When Colorado lawmakers removed custody language from a transgender-related bill in 2025, the fight appeared to cool — or at least move out of view.

It didn’t last.

Jan. 14 marked the formal introduction of Senate Bill 26-018, backed in the Senate by Katie Wallace and Chris Kolker and carried in the House by Meg Froelich and Lorena García. No Republicans signed on.

The bill was assigned to Senate Judiciary, chaired by sponsor Chris Kolker. Lead sponsor Katie Wallace has emphasized education and family policy in discussing the measure, drawing on her background on the Jefferson County School Board.

The proposal revives a custody standard lawmakers stripped from a similar bill last session after public opposition. In earlier hearings, parents and family law attorneys warned the language would shift custody decisions away from a child’s best interests. The revised version returns that concept in narrower terms, embedded deeper in statute.

For some Colorado families, the issue is anything but theoretical.

In a January 2026 episode of the Wayne’s Word Podcast, Boulder County father Gene Maine described an ongoing custody dispute tied to disagreements over how to respond to his teenage son’s asserted gender identity. Maine said those disagreements have already affected parenting time and decision-making authority in his case.

“I have no higher calling than being a father,” Maine said, explaining why he continues challenging rulings that he believes limit his role.

A familiar fight, reframed

The custody language appeared most recently during the 2025 session in HB25-1312, the Kelly Loving Act, a sweeping bill focused on transgender protections for minors.

Early drafts directed courts to consider deadnaming and misgendering in custody decisions. The provision was removed before the bill passed.

After those provisions were removed, the bill narrowed to anti-discrimination law, explicitly adding gender identity and “chosen name” to state definitions and reshaping how those terms apply across workplaces, housing, public accommodations, schools and government records.

SB26-018 revives a similar concept in broader terms. It adds a new factor to the “best interests of the child” standard: whether parents recognize a child’s identity tied to a protected class (including gender identity and expression). 

Though qualified with “subject to constitutional limitations,” the provision could carry weight in disputes where parents disagree.

“Once it’s in the court system, it’s not just about what you believe,” Maine said. “It’s about how those beliefs are interpreted.”

Maine does not claim the bill would dictate outcomes. His concern is cumulative—how statutes, professional norms, and judicial expectations can gradually narrow acceptable parental positions.

Advocacy networks mobilize in support

State lobbying records show support for SB26-018 appearing early in the legislative process.

Lobbying disclosures filed with the Colorado Secretary of State list registered supporters of SB26-018, including Bread and Roses Legal Center and Women’s Foundation of Colorado.

Among the groups registered in support of the bill is the Bread and Roses Legal Center, a Denver-based nonprofit that provides legal assistance related to name changes and record sealing, according to state lobbying disclosures. The organization has two registered lobbyists—co-executive director Z Williams and legal staffer Erika M. Unger—actively supporting the bill. 

Bread and Roses played a central role in the 2025 Kelly Loving Act, conducting surveys of transgender Coloradans that shaped its provisions and celebrating its passage as a “community victory” on social media and fundraising pages.

Other registered supporters include the Women’s Foundation of Colorado—a major grantmaker focused on economic advancement for women and girls, with explicit support for transgender women—registered through Louise V. Myrland. 

The Women’s Foundation of Colorado’s 2024 Form 990 program descriptions, including public policy advocacy through grants to aligned organizations and community education on engagement.

Also backing the bill are the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, likely drawn to its record-suppression provisions, and the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

Financial ties connect some of these advocates. IRS records list two grants from the Women’s Foundation of Colorado to Redline Contemporary Art Center—$10,000 in 2022 and $20,000 in 2023. Redline is the fiscal sponsor for Bread and Roses, handling the administrative side and tax status.

Bread and Roses itself emphasizes activist-oriented programming. Its recent fundraising events have included workshops titled “Lesbian Troublemaker,” “Scorched Earth,” and “Transgender Menace,” reflecting a confrontational approach to trans and queer advocacy.

Bread and Roses Legal Center’s fundraising events include workshops with titles such as ‘Lesbian Troublemaker’ and ‘Transgender Menace.’ 

The disclosures point to repeated overlap among nonprofit legal groups and philanthropic funders supporting the bill. Across filings and public statements, those organizations consistently frame expanded privacy protections and family-court considerations as necessary safeguards for transgender youth.

What comes next

As SB26-018 advances, lawmakers will again face a question they sidestepped in 2025—this time in subtler form:

Should a parent’s beliefs about gender identity influence their standing in family court?

For families already living the question, the answer is anything but academic.