Heavily amended bill adding legal protections for transgender people passes Colorado Senate
Two people fly a rainbow LGBTQ pride flag and a transgender pride flag in front of the Colorado Capitol building during a celebration on Nov. 7, 2020. (Moe Clark/Colorado Newsline)
The Colorado Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a heavily amended bill adding legal protections for transgender people in a 20-14 vote after hours of debate and opposition from Republican senators.
House Bill 25-1312, dubbed the Kelly Loving Act in honor of a transgender woman killed during the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, would make it a discriminatory act to intentionally not refer to a transgender person by their chosen name. It also requires school policies be 'inclusive of all reasons' that a student changes their name, and it says schools must allow students to choose from any variation contained in dress code policies.
The bill includes a provision that says someone does not need a court order if they want to change their gender marker on a driver's license or other identification a second or third time. Colorado allows an 'X' gender marker on state IDs, but that has led to some people having trouble with student loans and passport applications, so some people may want to change their gender markers back. It will also allow a county clerk to issue a new marriage license to someone who has legally changed their name.
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'This bill's needed because if transgender residents were never harassed, denied services, or mocked in official settings, additional clarification would be unnecessary,' Sen. Chris Kolker, a Littleton Democrat, said Tuesday. 'The lived evidence shows that gaps persist.'
Kolker sponsored the bill alongside Sen. Faith Winter, a Broomfield Democrat, Rep. Lorena García, an Adams County Democrat, and Rep. Rebekah Stewart, a Lakewood Democrat.
The House voted 39-24 to accept the Senate's many amendments to the measure and 40-24 to approve it again as amended. Democratic Reps. Regina English of Colorado Springs and Naquetta Ricks of Aurora joined Republicans in voting against accepting the amendments to the bill.
House Republicans continued echoing parental rights concerns during debate that went into late Tuesday evening, which bill supporters said were unfounded under the latest version of the bill.
'The continued mischaracterization of these policies needs to stop,' Garcia said Tuesday night. 'It is a disservice to Coloradans who are really trying to understand what is in this bill, and we should be honest and truthful about what we are agreeing to or disagreeing with without exaggeration.'
The measure will now go to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' desk to be signed into law. Two Democrats in the Senate joined Republicans in voting against the bill: Sen. Kyle Mullica of Thornton and Sen. Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs.
The Senate adopted an amendment Monday that removed a portion of the bill that would have shielded parents who help their child obtain gender-affirming care from laws in other states that outlaw the practice — a part of the bill some supporters had reservations about due to potential legal implications. A Senate committee cut part of the section last week, on top of many other substantial amendments, but bill sponsors offered an amendment deleting the section entirely.
Colorado already has a shield law in place that protects people who travel to Colorado for abortion or gender-affirming care from lawsuits and criminal prosecution initiated in other states, and Winter said the original intent of the cut section was to strengthen those protections.
We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our community in full support of the Kelly Loving Act. Trans liberation is non-negotiable.
– Nadine Bridges, One Colorado executive director
Another two amendments added Monday made technical and terminology changes, and changed the description of a 'chosen name' to mean a name someone wants to be known by related to 'disability, race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, national origin, or ancestry, so long as the name does not contain offensive language and the individual is not requesting the name for frivolous purposes.' Winter said that change made the policy inclusive of all reasons someone may want to change their name, not just gender identity.
Republican senators acknowledged and thanked bill sponsors for removing provisions that would have affected child custody decisions — the most controversial portion of the original bill — but said many constituents don't realize that was removed and continue to express concern. Republicans still said the bill would affect parental rights related to chosen names and dress codes in schools.
Senate Minority Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said Tuesday on the Senate floor that the measure still interferes with the 'sacred' parent-child relationship even as amended and draws the state into 'personal family matters.'
'(House Bill) 1312, despite its protective intent, creates a system where schools and state agencies become the arbiter of deeply personal family decisions,' Lundeen said. 'By mandating inclusive name policies, enforcing gender neutral dress codes, enlisting the (Colorado Civil Rights Division) to police speech, this bill risks transforming schools and courts into areas where the state overrides parental authority. We must not allow government to intrude into and fracture the trust between parents and children.'
Rod Pelton, a Cheyenne Wells Republican, said he received more communications related to House Bill 1312 than any other bill this session. Other senators from both sides of the aisle have said the same.
One Colorado, one of the largest LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in Colorado, and Rocky Mountain Equality both support the bill in its current form after various amendments were adopted. The organizations initially supported the bill, but changed to an 'amend' position with unspecified legal concerns after it passed the House.
'We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our community in full support of the Kelly Loving Act. Trans liberation is non-negotiable,' One Colorado Executive Director Nadine Bridges said in a statement the organization posted to Facebook. 'Pro-equality legislation is not just about creating hope, but creating a better reality. It is a fight that we all need to be in together to protect our community, our family.'
Democrats control strong majorities in both chambers of the Legislature.
The 2025 legislative session ends Wednesday.
Editor's note: This story and headline were updated at 9:17 a.m., May 7, 2025, to include the House vote on Senate amendments and previously to correct that the amended version of the bill says intentionally not referring to a transgender person is a discriminatory act. The terms 'deadnaming' and 'misgendering' were removed from the bill.
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