Colorado Bill Seeks to Strip Away Parental Rights, Trample Christian Teachings

Under the guise of “protecting” minors who claim transgender status, Democrats in Colorado are on the verge of passing a new law that would strip away parental rights – potentially even taking kids away from parents – and effectively criminalize Christian teachings on gender.

HB 25-1312, the Kelly Loving Act, passed the Colorado House on April 6 and will soon be presented in the state senate. The bill is named after a transgender woman who was killed in the 2022 Club Q shooting that left five people dead and five more injured.

While proponents of the bill claim that it simply “protects” individuals who identify as transgender, the text of the legislation reads more like an anti-parent, anti-Christian manifesto. If signed into law, HB 25-1312 would officially make misgendering (not using someone’s “preferred pronouns”) and deadnaming (referring to a transgender individual by their birth name instead of their chosen name) acts of discrimination under Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

While those provisions alone raise serious First Amendment concerns, even more alarming are the bill’s provisions when it comes to children who believe they are transgender. According to the legislation, misgendering and deadnaming should be considered acts of “coercive control” which can be used to determine parental custody of a child in custody disputes.

“When making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time,” section 2 of the bill’s summary states, “a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control. A court shall consider reports of coercive control when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities in accordance with the best interests of the child.”

In other words, if a parent refuses to affirm their child’s gender confusion, courts can use that as justification to deny that parent custody or visitation rights. This may not just apply in custody battles, either – children from loving, two-parent homes could be ripped away from their family by Colorado courts if a judge determines that a child’s parents are not “affirming” enough. The bill would essentially force parents to pledge allegiance to far left gender ideology or else risk losing their kids.

As critics of the bill have noted, similar legislation in Canada has led to parents being arrested for refusing to allow their children to undergo permanent, life-altering gender surgeries and drug regimens. In 2018, Robert Hoogland was jailed and fined under Canada’s Infants Act for “misgendering” his daughter (in other words, referring to her as a girl) as well as preventing her from receiving testosterone.

HB 25-1312 has unsurprisingly garnered strong backlash from parents and Christian groups throughout Colorado and the entire country. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Colorado Baptists, and the Family Research Council have all publicly expressed opposition to the bill.

J. Chase Davis, a pastor at The Well Church in Boulder, Colorado, has noticed the outpouring of opposition from Christian leaders and pastors across the state and encouraged more fellow Christians to follow suit in a post on X. “We’re seeing a groundswell of otherwise disengaged Christians waking up and joining the fight against Colorado HB 25-1312,” Davis wrote. “This fight needs more support. We need the big churches with the loudest voices to get involved.”

Greg Schaller, director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, also expressed his deep concern that Colorado’s bill will force Christians to abandon their own convictions in an interview with The Christian Post. “HB25-1312 sets a dangerous precedent by punishing those who live out their biblical convictions,” Schaller told the outlet.

But it’s not just Christians who are voicing their opposition. In an article for City Journal, Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist and fellow at the Manhattan Institute, expressed his deep concerns over the fact that the Colorado bill would silence parents, write radical left gender ideology into state law, and deny children the “affirming” care they really need – affirming the permanent reality of their biological sex.

“Instead of ensuring children’s safety, this bill would mandate speech, codify a radical ideology into law, and weaponize family courts to enforce compliance,” Wright argued. “If Polis signs the bill, Colorado will enshrine into law the notion that protecting a child from irreversible and unnecessary medical treatments constitutes abuse. This is precisely the opposite of the truth. Kids with gender dysphoria—and the parents who refuse to lie to them—deserve better.”

In response to backlash from Christians and conservatives, Colorado Democrats have doubled down – even comparing opponents of the bill to the Ku Klux Klan. Democrat state Rep. Yara Zoakie described Christian organizations as “hate groups,” saying that “we don’t ask someone passing civil rights legislation to go ask the KKK their opinion.”

Unfortunately for Colorado parents – and kids caught up in the lies of gender ideology – the bill looks well on its way to final passage. Democrats currently have a 23-12 edge in the state senate, and Democratic Governor Jared Polis has garnered a reputation as one of the most far-left governors in the country.

Nonetheless, every Democrat who supports HB 25-1312 will have to face voters and answer for their actions. At the very least, Christian and conservative opposition to the bill can warn Americans in other states about the perils of far-left governance and how it threatens to destroy children and rip apart families.

Hunter Oswald is a Research Fellow for The American Spectator. He is an alum of Grove City College, where he graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Political Science. You can follow him on X @HunterOswald8.