Dear Friends,
We have an urgent request for your help. We need you to sign our petition telling Governor Jared Polis that we expect him to VETO House Bill 1312, a dangerous bill that would hurt our children and our teachers, as well as undermine parents’ rights!
We have kept you informed about the evolving dangers of HB 1312 during the legislative process, and you have helped us fight it for weeks. But now a new version of the law has been passed by the Legislature and is headed to Governor Polis’s desk. We have started a petition calling on him to veto it, and we hope you will join us in signing it.
HB 1312 invents a right to sex change procedures in Colorado law and adds so-called “deadnaming” and “misgendering” to Colorado’s antidiscrimination laws. These provisions threaten a parent’s custody of their child if they don’t “affirm” the child’s chosen gender identity. Under HB 1312, such a parent would be labeled “discriminatory” by the state.
HB 1312 would also require Colorado schools with dress code policies to allow children to choose from either male or female options to suit their supposed “gender identity.” It would also require schools with a “chosen name” policy to expand that policy to include chosen gender identity as a reason for a students’ requested name change.
These requirements would perpetuate the dangerous “social transition” for children struggling with gender dysphoria. Social transition increases the confusion these children are experiencing and leads them down a path to medical transition. These requirements also force teachers and school administrators to enforce them, violating their consciences and pitting them against parents.
Coloradans deserve better than HB 1312, and you can tell Governor Polis so by signing our petition strongly urging his veto. Thank you for helping us fight this dangerous bill at every turn—now help us finish the fight by encouraging Governor Polis to exercise his veto power and put a stop to HB 1312 once and for all!
Sincerely,
Joseph Kohm, III
Director, Public Policy