COLORADO, USA — Targeting transgender people is a focus of Republican politics in this election year. Conservatives who don't have the votes at Colorado's Capitol to pass anything plan to go straight to voters with ballot initiatives.
"We know that a ballot initiative to ban transgender surgeries on minors would not pass in the political climate at the legislature. The Democrats are in a supermajority," Darcy Schoening the Colorado GOP Director of Special Initiatives, said. "Although one party may be in a supermajority in the legislature you have another way to make laws which is to go ahead and file a ballot initiative with the Secretary of the State's office
Schoening is behind the initiative to try and ban gender-affirming care for minors. The Title Board determines if the initiative contains a single subject, something mandatory to move forward. The Board approved it earlier this month. But LGBTQ supporters have requested a rehearing arguing the initiative covers multiple subjects.
"It is definitely anti-LGBTQ+," Nadine Bridges the executive director for One Colorado said. The organization created a new committee to fight initiatives they believe are anti-LGBTQ+, like the attempt to ban gender-affirming care for minors.
"We started that [committee] in January of this year when we started to see the many initiatives that were being pushed forth," Bridges explained. "We have conservative folks using our ballot measure process to harm the trans community in particular trans young people."
"Asking a child to wait to undergo a drastic and life-alerting gender transition is not anti-LGBTQ+ it's pro-child it's pro common sense," Schoening argued.
This fight will have its second round at a title board hearing next week at a rehearing on April 3. Neither side said they plan to back down.
"It will make it through title board it's just a matter of how many more weeks," Schoening said confidently.
"If it does [pass] we'll do whatever else we can do to impact this initiative getting to the ballot." Bridges added.
Regardless of what happens at the rehearing next week, anyone who isn't happy with the board's ruling can file an appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court. If it is approved, the GOP would have to collect about 120,000 signatures to get the initiative on a ballot.
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