Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Parental Rights

Justice: Colorado’s HB1312 is sacrificing families to the trans lobby
Approved, State, The Daily Caller

Justice: Colorado’s HB1312 is sacrificing families to the trans lobby

By Tiffany Justice | The Daily Caller No parent should ever be forced to enable harm to their child. It’s a primal instinct—to shield, to nurture, to guide our kids through life’s storms. Yet, Colorado is charging toward a law that turns this instinct upside down, branding it abusive for parents to question their child’s desire to “change their gender.” This isn’t a minor policy tweak; it’s a full-frontal assault on parental rights, propped up by the flimsy facade of “gender-affirming care”—a practice I see as abuse cloaked in compassion. The legislation at the heart of this, HB25-1312, cleared the Colorado House in early 2025 and is winding through the Senate as of April. Its supporters pitch it as a shield for transgender individuals, but peel back the rhetoric, and the real ta...
Over 20 Colorado pastors unite in urgent call to action against HB25-1312
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Over 20 Colorado pastors unite in urgent call to action against HB25-1312

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice “If you don’t speak up now, it may be too late.” That’s the message from a growing coalition of Colorado pastors urging fellow faith leaders to take a public stand against HB25-1312 — a bill they say undermines parental rights, criminalizes biblical truth and puts families at risk. Pastor Jeff Anderson, Senior Advisor for Faith Outreach to Congressman Jeff Crank, sent a letter Friday afternoon to pastors across Colorado urging them to speak out against the bill.  “We want to bring to your attention a critical issue affecting parental rights in Colorado,” Anderson wrote. “This bill includes provisions that could have significant implications for parents and families.” The bill, titled “Legal Protections for Transge...
CO Dems’ HB25-1312 gains national spotlight: “The inmates are running the asylum”
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

CO Dems’ HB25-1312 gains national spotlight: “The inmates are running the asylum”

By Rocky Mountain Voice Staff A controversial bill pushed by Colorado Democrats—HB25-1312, which redefines gender-related parental disagreements as potential abuse—is quickly gaining national media attention and backlash from lawmakers, parental rights advocates, and constitutional experts across the country. The bill, passed by House Democrats earlier this week, would give Colorado courts broad power to sever custody rights from parents who do not affirm their child’s self-declared gender identity, including pronouns and social transition.  Critics argue that the measure targets conservative families and faith-based parenting, and could ultimately allow ideological disagreements to be framed as abuse. National concern exploded this week after several high-profile figures ...
Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Garbo: With HB25-1312, the state can claim your kids and call it compassion

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice On April 6, 2025 the Colorado House of Representatives crossed a line - a Rubicon, as it were - into territory so profane, so fundamentally corrosive to the bedrock of human society, that it demands not just opposition but a thunderous rebuke. House Bill 25-1312 titled Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, passed with a vote of 36-20, is no mere legislative misstep; it is a deliberate, ideological sledgehammer aimed at shattering the sacred bond between parent and child. To its proponents, I say this with the full weight of reason and the fire of conviction: you have unleashed a dangerous precedent, one that betrays the very essence of family, liberty, and the proper limits of government. This is not a defense of civil ...
Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’
American Wire News, Approved, State

Marshall breaks with Democrats over custody bill targeting parents who ‘misgender’

By Kevin Haggerty | American Wire News Opposition to his party’s hardline stance on gender ideology found a Colorado Democrat explaining his “serious concerns regarding overreach.” Sunday in the Centennial State, leftist lawmakers delivered what many considered to be a literal and symbolic salvo against Christian beliefs as they pushed through four bills advancing gender ideology and abortion. State Rep. Bob Marshall was the only member of the Democratic Party to oppose one of those bills, and he explained why he was specifically against parents losing custody if they “misgendered” or “deadnamed” their own child. “This is a larger concern I have regarding the understandable reaction people are having to protect marginalized groups from the overly zealous onslaught in the new admin...
State bill rewrites how Colorado decides school vaccine mandates
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

State bill rewrites how Colorado decides school vaccine mandates

By John Ingold | Colorado Sun An amendment slipped into a bill by Democrats would shift reliance away from a key federal committee in determining which vaccines Colorado schoolkids are required to get Colorado lawmakers have quietly moved to shift the state’s school immunization requirements away from the recommendations of a prominent federal committee, in response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking over the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The move comes in an amendment to a bill, House Bill 1027, currently awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. The amendment makes a change to how Colorado decides which vaccines to require. Colorado’s Board of Health sets the rules for which vaccines schoolkids need to receive or to have a valid exemption for. The current law sa...
How HB1312 could reshape custody courts, schools, and family law in Colorado
Approved, COLORADO PEAK POLITICS, State

How HB1312 could reshape custody courts, schools, and family law in Colorado

By Colorado Peak Politics Colorado Democrats have jumped the political shark with a dangerously radical bill that authorizes courts deciding child custody cases to consider if a parent can’t keep their pronouns straight. The summary of HB25-1312 passed on a party line vote in the House Sunday reads; “Section 1 of the bill creates the “Kelly Loving Act.” Section 2 provides that, when making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering …” and something about publishing that doesn’t make sense so we didn’t include it here. Call us old fashioned, but physical abuse should top the list of limiting a parent’s custodial rights to their own flesh and bl...
The fine print of SB25-063: Speak up about inappropriate books in schools, get doxxed
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The fine print of SB25-063: Speak up about inappropriate books in schools, get doxxed

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice When Colorado lawmakers debated Senate Bill 25-063—titled the “Freedom to Read Act”—most eyes focused on the usual battle lines: controversial books, age appropriateness and the role of librarians. But tucked inside the bill is something less publicized—and more dangerous to parents who dare to speak up. Under Section 4(f), any parent who requests that a book be reconsidered for a school library will have their name made public. That request becomes a CORA-able document, meaning it falls under the Colorado Open Records Act. And in today’s politically charged environment, that’s all it takes to make someone a target. Rep. Ken DeGraaf, who opposed the bill during the April 3 House floor debate, warned that the measure gives...
Cole: HB-1312 turns pronouns into a weapon against parents and schools
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Cole: HB-1312 turns pronouns into a weapon against parents and schools

By Shaina Cole | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado House Democrats recently leveraged their legislative authority with a calculated one-two punch, invoking Rule 14 on April 4, 2025, to cap debate on House Bill 1312 (HB-1312), the “Kelly Loving Act,” at a scant two hours, then deploying Rule 16 over the weekend to stifle discussion entirely and push the bill to an immediate vote.  These tools, seldom used outside of breaking filibuster gridlock, were not wielded here to clear a clogged calendar but to mute opposition to a measure poised to reshape parental rights, free speech, and family dynamics. This heavy-handed approach stripped away democratic deliberation, a move that should unsettle every Coloradan. This isn’t about streamlining; it’s about dominance. ...
Enos: Abortion, parental rights and gun grabs—Colorado’s radical trifecta
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Enos: Abortion, parental rights and gun grabs—Colorado’s radical trifecta

By Colleen Enos | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice While continuing to grapple with Colorado’s $1.2 billion dollar shortfall, the state will be losing $250 million in pandemic-related federal funding for healthcare from the American Rescue Plan Act. The federal government is implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative. Coloradoans may believe that our Democrat-led state legislature will surely cut back on bills with a fiscal impact, but that would be an incorrect assumption; they just tweak the fiscal note. SB25-183, Coverage for Pregnancy Related Services, would be more appropriately named “Taxpayer-funded Abortion Coverage.” This bill adds abortion coverage to Colorado’s state Medicaid insurance. Howev...