Exclusive: Thousands of Coloradans Urge Lawmakers to Reject Radical Transgender Bill Defining Wrong Pronouns as Child Abuse

Thousands of Coloradans are reaching out to state lawmakers urging them to vote against a radical transgender bill that would classify “misgendering” and “deadnaming” as forms of child abuse that would be considered in child custody disputes.

By Tuesday, 6,161 Coloradans sent 215,475 emails to Colorado state senators through Heritage Action for America’s Colorado Action Center, Breitbart News exclusively learned. Heritage Action started the Colorado Action Center on April 8 in response to HB25-1312, which passed the state House on April 6 and is currently waiting to be assigned to a Senate committee. 

“Heritage Action and our army of grassroots conservatives in Colorado strongly oppose this legislation, which seeks to impose radical gender ideology on families,” Heritage Action Vice President Janae Stracke told Breitbart News in a statement. “This tidal wave of opposition against this legislation in Colorado highlights how disconnected radical Democrats are from their constituents. This bill is an open assault on parents’ rights and free speech. We urge all Colorado lawmakers to reject this legislation.”

The bill subscribes to the false idea that one can identify as or become a different sex than they were born as, often called “gender identity.” The bill defines “deadname” as: “to purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individual’s gender identity or gender expression, refer to an individual by their birth name rather than their chosen name.” The bill defines “misgender” as: “to purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individual’s gender identity or gender expression, refer to an individual using an honorific or pronoun that conflicts with the individual’s gender identity or gender expression.”

According to the bill’s summary, the legislation would direct courts making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child “for purposes of parenting time” to consider “deadnaming,” “misgendering,” or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s sex change services as types of “coercive control.”

The bill would additionally define “deadnaming” and “misgendering” as discriminatory acts in the “Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act,” which would essentially prohibit calling sex-confused individuals by their real names or biological sex in places of public accommodation.

The bill would further prohibit Colorado courts from complying with orders or laws from other states mandating that a child be taken from parents or caregivers who allow them access to mutilating sex change drugs and surgeries — which transgender activists euphemistically call “gender-affirming care.”

The legislation would direct schools that establish policies related to “chosen names” to include all reasons why a student may choose to go by a name other than their legal name. Schools would also be barred from including rules based on “gender” in dress code policies.

The bill also directs public entities that require individuals to disclose their names to have options for both legal and chosen names. The public entity would be required to use a chosen name on all subsequent forms if it differs from the individual’s legal name.

The bill is officially called the “The Kelly Loving Act,” named after a transgender-identifying man who was killed during the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, according to Colorado Newsline.

Democrats hold a trifecta in Colorado: they dominate the state House 43-22, the state Senate 23-12, and they hold the governorship with Gov. Jared Polis (D).

Democrats in the House denied all proposed Republican amendments to the bill and were able to use procedural rules to stymie and ultimately halt debate on the bill before passing it on a Sunday.

Democrats behind the bill have criticized parental rights groups concerned about the transgender bills, with one even comparing them to the Ku Klux Klan. Democrat state Rep. Yara Zokaie said, “A well-stakeholded bill does not need to be discussed with hate groups, and we don’t ask someone passing civil rights legislation to go ask the KKK their opinion.”

According to Heritage Action, “radical gender ideology activists have been working to weaponize Child Protective Services (CPS) against US parents by accusing them of ‘abuse’ if they do not affirm and recognize their child’s ‘gender identity.”‘

“Multiple states have already passed legislation to criminalize parents through this perverse redefinition of abuse, allowing for the removal of children from the loving homes of ‘non-affirming parents,'” the organization noted.

Heritage Action says the bill would deny parental rights, violate free speech, harm vulnerable children, and “mandate schools prioritize indoctrination over education.”

“The ONLY time a state should ever remove a child is for actual abuse, not to impose a destructive ideology. The truth is simple. It is never abuse to raise a girl as a girl or a boy as a boy,” the organization says on its Colorado Action Center page.

“It is imperative that all Colorado senators hear from their constituents on how this radical bill will tear apart families and harm children across Colorado,” the organization added.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.