Colorado House advances bill mandating schools use transgender students' preferred name

The Colorado legislature is pushing a bill mandating educators in public and charter schools use transgender students' preferred names in all school settings, including records.

Protesters of Kentucky Senate Bill SB150, known as the Transgender Health Bill, cheer on speakers during a rally on the lawn of the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, March 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

"When schools keep a student’s former name and gender marker on school transcripts and records, it outs transgender students to their peers, thereby violating their privacy," the group wrote prior to the legislature's vote.

One Colorado, a progressive LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, also supports the bill, alongside the Colorado School Counselors Association.

The bill would also deem that "intentional use of a name other than a student's chosen name is discriminatory."

State Rep. Anthony Hartsook, a Republican, called the bill "open-ended and ill-defined" that could lead to "many, many paths."

"We open up Pandora's Box for discernment on what is discriminatory and what is not, what is intentional and what is not," Hatsook said on the House floor. "Who starts deciding that when and where do we start deciding that? When and where do we bring the parents into that discussion?"

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(Colorado House Bill 1039 has one more round of voting before moving to the Senate floor.)

"And so I would just suggest to you all as we talk through this bill today that we bear in mind that there is such a thing as a kid who's not safe with their own parents," said Vigil. "Certainly, kids belong with their parents – that relationship is precious. But I do not accept the premise that a child is anyone's property or that their safety isn't to be prioritized, even when the person who is a danger to them is their own parents."

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The bill was also sponsored by Democratic State Sens. Faith Winter, of Westminster, and Janice Marchman, of Loveland. State Rep. Brianna Titone, an Arvada Democrat and the legislature's only transgender member, is also a co-sponsor. 

If cleared by the Senate and signed by the governor, the bill would go into effect in July 2025. 

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee and Utah are several states that have passed laws restricting pronoun use in schools. 

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate. 

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