Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Free Speech

Hunter: Dear Common Sense on using your voice without becoming part of the chaos
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Hunter: Dear Common Sense on using your voice without becoming part of the chaos

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice “Dear Common Sense” is a no-nonsense advice column for those who still believe truth matters, leadership is earned, and common sense isn’t so common anymore. Each issue tackles real questions from real people, offering grounded wisdom for speaking up, leading well, and living with integrity in a noisy world. No shouting. No spin. Just clarity with character.  Let’s lean into our first entry. Shall we? Dear Common Sense, I care about this country, probably more than I let on. And I’m not one to sit on my hands when something needs to be said. But these days, it feels like speaking up just adds to the noise. I don’t want to keep my mouth shut, but I don’t want to add to the shouting match either. ...
Enos: Colorado’s war on parental rights isn’t over—it’s escalating
Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State

Enos: Colorado’s war on parental rights isn’t over—it’s escalating

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado Colorado is on a roll. Violating religious liberty and compelling free speech are two issues that Colorado Courts have already been reprimanded for. Our Courts lost two civil rights lawsuits – Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis – in addition to being overturned by the United States Supreme Court in the decision that was supposed to throw Donald Trump off the 2024 Colorado Presidential Election ballot. Now, we are doing it all over again. On Friday, May 16th, Governor Polis quietly signed HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, into law. There was no ceremony or statement from the Governor, just an administrative signature. When...
Turley: Rubio Declares War on Foreign Censors Targeting U.S. Speech
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Turley: Rubio Declares War on Foreign Censors Targeting U.S. Speech

By Jonathan Turley | Commentary, jonathanturley.org Winston Churchill once warned that “appeasement is feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last.” When it comes to the crocodile of censorship, history is strewn with defenders who later became digestives. Censorship produces an insatiable appetite for greater and greater speech limits, and today’s censorship supporters often become tomorrow’s censored subjects. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stopped feeding the crocodile. On May 28, 2025, Rubio shocked many of our allies by issuing a new visa restriction policy that bars foreign nationals deemed “responsible for censorship of protected expression” in the U.S. The new policy follows a major address by Vice President J.D. Vanc...
Garbo: Boulder wasn’t a clash, it was terrorism
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Garbo: Boulder wasn’t a clash, it was terrorism

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice What happened in Boulder was an act of terrorism, plain and simple. The alleged actions of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, targeting Jews in what authorities have rightly identified as an ideologically motivated, antisemitic attack, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It was not a “disturbance,” or a “clash,” or a “misunderstanding.” It was hate. And it was violent, deliberate, and evil. This nation was founded on the principle that people of all faiths and backgrounds can worship, gather, and speak freely without fear. That principle was shattered in Boulder, and we cannot - must not - look away. Governor Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser deserve appreciation for calling this what it is: an act of hate-fuele...
Free speech fight hits Colorado: XX-XY Athletics sues over HB25-1312
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Free speech fight hits Colorado: XX-XY Athletics sues over HB25-1312

By Jackson Thompson | Fox News Brand founder Jennifer Sey says legislation forces Coloradans to 'adhere to an ideology that is in violation of actual truth' EXCLUSIVE: The women's activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics is suing the state of Colorado over a recent state law that the company claims would interfere with its ability to market its message.  The lawsuit takes aim at the state for passing a law called HB25-1312 and amending the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which defines "gender expression" to include "chosen name" and "how an individual chooses to be addressed." The laws state Coloradans have a right to access "public accommodations and advertising" that are free of discrimination on that basis.  The company's lawsuit claims ...
Maryland school settles with student suspended for asking about American flag
Approved, Fox News, National

Maryland school settles with student suspended for asking about American flag

By Chris Papst | Fox 25 News Towson, Md. (WBFF) — It’s a story that grabbed national attention - a Maryland student, and prospective U.S. Marine, suspended while asking why classrooms in his high school did not contain American flags. Project Baltimore first spoke with Parker Jensen in April. Soon after, he sued Baltimore County Public Schools. And now, that lawsuit has been settled. It was just last month when Project Baltimore broke the news that Jensen, a Marine hopeful, was suspended from school for seven days, after he went to Baltimore County Public Schools headquarters to ask why some classrooms at Towson High were missing American flags. According to state law and BCPS school board policy, all classrooms must contain the flag. As a result of that suspension, J...
Hunt: Governor signs laws advancing trans agenda, sparking constitutional challenge
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Hunt: Governor signs laws advancing trans agenda, sparking constitutional challenge

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 bil...
Colorado sued over law punishing ‘misgendering’: Doctors, parents cite First Amendment
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Colorado sued over law punishing ‘misgendering’: Doctors, parents cite First Amendment

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette Several organizations and a western Colorado dermatologist have filed a lawsuit seeking to block specific provisions of a recently signed state law that, as originally introduced, would have defined "deadnaming" and "misgendering" as discriminatory acts but whose final version had been heavily modified.   The plaintiffs in the lawsuit included Defending Education, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Protect Kids Colorado, and Do No Harm. Travis Morrell, a Grand Junction dermatologist and member of Do No Harm, is also a plaintiff. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Colorado Civil Rights Division members are named as defendants. All five groups believe that a person's gender identity "cannot differ from their sex ...
“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos
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“Drawing the line”: School boards warn HB25-1312 oversteps on parental rights, brings policy chaos

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Board members say the bill risks punishing parents, stripping local authority, and forcing schools into the middle of contentious custody battles More than 70 school board members and education leaders have signed a letter urging lawmakers to reject HB25-1312, also known as the Kelly Loving Act. Jason Jorgenson, secretary of the District 11 Board of Education and a lead organizer of the opposition letter, said HB25-1312 “risks encouraging youth to pursue a path of gender transition without appropriate parental involvement.” Andrea Haitz, president of the District 51 Board of Education, warned that the bill “risks placing schools in an even more precarious legal position, especially when parents disagree on matters like gender identity or p...
Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override
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Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Senate overrode the governor’s veto. The House never even had to say no. In Colorado politics, sometimes the clock matters more than the votes. Without casting a single "no" vote, Colorado lawmakers on April 28 killed a bipartisan attempt to override Governor Jared Polis’ veto of a social media regulation bill. Just days earlier, the Senate had voted 29–6 to override the veto of Senate Bill 25-086, marking the state's first successful chamber override of a policy bill in more than a decade.  But when the bill reached the House, members voted 51–13 to lay over the override until after the legislative session ended. As reported by The Colorado Sun, the maneuver guaranteed the bill’s death without a formal vote, allowing lawmakers to av...