Colorado s Totalitarian Transgenderism Bill – WSJ

We are both mothers whose daughters went through a phase in which they believed they were boys. We never affirmed that belief, although their schools and much of the broader culture did. Eventually, our daughters recognized their true identities and ceased identifying themselves as transgender. A bill under consideration in Colorado (where Ms. Lee lives) would define parents like us as child abusers. The measure would harm vulnerable children and violate the U.S. Constitution in multiple ways.

Lawmakers including state Reps. Yara Zokaie and Javier Mabrey have likened parents like us to Klansmen, and their legislation is expected to pass the state Senate and proceed to Gov. Jared Polis s desk. A similar bill in California (where Ms. Friday lives) was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024. He noted that in custody disputes, his state s family courts already favor the parent who affirms the child s claim to be a different sex. Since at least 2016, California Child Protective Services has removed children from homes where parents refused to accede to their children s social or medical gender transition. Colorado has adopted similar practices, and so have other states, including conservative ones like Indiana and Montana. Lawmakers in Sacramento just killed a bill written by Ms. Friday that would have defined child abuse to exclude such refusal.

The Colorado bill, designated HB25-1312, seeks to formalize these practices. Should it pass, parents who use a minor child s legal name a name that typically requires parental consent to be changed could be deemed abusive. In custody disputes, the parent who declines to use the child s chosen name and third-person pronouns irrespective of age, mental-health status and the consistency of the identity could be denied custody or even visitation.

If both parents reject the notion that their child is a different sex or nonbinary, asexual or another gender identity, they risk complete loss of custody. The bill would empower Colorado courts to disregard out-of-state custody decisions a direct violation of the Constitution s Full Faith and Credit Clause.

via www.wsj.com

Erin Friday and Erin Lee.