Lundberg: Proposition 135 got a Blue Book handout for the opposition

By Kevin Lundberg | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

The 2026 State Ballot Information Booklet, commonly referred to as the “Blue Book,” is prepared by the Colorado Legislative Council, nonpartisan staff who answer to a committee the legislative majority controls. It has now been mailed to all Colorado voters.

This thick document is supposed to be the nonpartisan, objective “pro and con” description of all the statewide ballot questions for the 2026 general election. Unfortunately, the Blue Book’s information on Proposition 135 looks more like a promotional handout for the opposition to Proposition 135 than a fair and balanced reporting of the facts.

Proposition 135 ends gender mutilation surgeries on children. In more graphic terms, this proposition says it’s time to stop doctors from cutting off healthy body parts of children.

I spent 16 years as a Colorado legislator and had high respect for the Colorado Legislative Council’s ethic of providing legislators unbiased, nonpartisan support. They are charged with preparing the Blue Book as an objective information tool for all Colorado voters. Usually, they are faithful to this responsibility, but sadly, on Proposition 135 they failed miserably.

Protect Kids Colorado (PKC), the principal organization promoting Proposition 135, repeatedly gave the Legislative Council staff accurate information for the “Yes” side of the ballot question. But all of PKC’s comments and concerns were ignored: the Blue Book arguments for supporting a “Yes” vote for the proposition are weak and misleading. In the past, I always assumed that in the parts of the Blue Book that list reasons to vote for and against any ballot question, Legislative Council reported what the proponents and opponents were saying about the question. For Proposition 135, I was sadly mistaken.

Throughout the Blue Book discussion of Proposition 135, the term “gender-affirming surgery” is used to identify surgeries that remove healthy body parts of children. A more accurate term is gender-rejecting or gender-mutilation surgery. At a minimum, more neutral terminology such as “surgically changing physical characteristics of gender” should have been used.

Clearly, the term “gender-affirming” is loaded with the assumption that somehow cutting off healthy body parts is a healthy choice. Not only does this reject any common-sense reasoning, but it also ignores completely that many European countries, which had encouraged these practices in past years, are ending these surgeries for minors. Legislative Council staff also ignore the serious mental health implications of gender-rejecting surgeries.

As an example of seemingly conscious bias, the Blue Book cites a study on the prevalence of these gender-rejecting practices that uses 2019 data and does not measure the explosive growth of transgender ideology in the years since then. This deceptive technique masks the real facts of how widespread these surgeries have become. We gave them more up-to-date information, but that was rejected.

The Blue Book analysis also falsely states that current law “allows public and private health insurance programs to pay for these surgeries.” In fact, current Colorado law forces private insurance and state funding systems to pay for these surgeries, outside the self-funded employer plans the state cannot reach.

As a Colorado legislator, I relied on the assistance and integrity of Legislative Council, and they did not disappoint me. Sadly, for Proposition 135 they failed to maintain that integrity.

Today the Colorado legislature is force-feeding destructive transgender ideology to our kids. Now their Legislative Council is doing the same thing. Concerned parents and citizens must help Protect Kids Colorado spread the real truth about Proposition 135. And vote “Yes” on November 3.

Kevin Lundberg is a former Colorado state senator and serves as executive director of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado. He publishes the weekly “Lundberg Report” and holds a weekly grassroots conference call. Signup for the report and participate in the call at kevinlundberg.com.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.