LGBTQ activists are pushing legislators in Colorado to quickly pass a bill that opponents say would threaten parental rights and the welfare of minors who question their sexuality. To stop the bill, Christian groups are gathering signatures seeking to raise awareness of its dangers.

The push to enact HB 1312, which passed the Colorado House and is awaiting action in the state Senate, is being presented as a “civil rights” law only opposed by “hate groups.” But, says Colorado-based Focus on the Family, it would force schools, businesses and individuals in public spaces to adhere to “affirming” language and policies.

But even more chilling, the bill could allow child welfare agents to remove children from homes in which the parents refuse to affirm their kids’ gender choices, according to Zachary Mettler, communications liaison at Focus on the Family’s Daily Citizen news site.

Mettler, writing at The Christian Post about the danger posed by HB 1312, said the bill “seeks to force parents, schools and businesses to kowtow to false and harmful transgender ideology.”

According to the Daily Citizen, HB 1312 would force courts to consider parents’ “deadnaming” and “misgendering” their children as abuse. Deadnaming is defined as using the names and pronouns of a transgender person’s former identity or birth name. Additionally, HB 1312 would add deadnaming and misgendering to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. The bill would also prohibit Colorado judges from complying with other states’ laws concerning child welfare in cases in which “gender-affirming health care” is at stake.

According to the bill’s text: “When making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, 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, as Mettler wrote. “Far from protecting an allegedly discriminated-against minority, this bill could facilitate Child Protective Services kidnapping children from parents who refuse to affirm their child’s ‘gender identity.’”

Supporters claim HB 1312 is about protecting civil rights and are likening opponents to hate groups, but, the Daily Citizen opined, “Real civil rights don’t take away the rights of others.”

Colorado has become a battleground state in the struggle over LGBTQ rights versus the conscience rights of business owners, therapists and parents. For more than a decade, Christian cake designer Jack Phillips has endured endless legal battles as radical LGBTQ activists have sought to drive him out of business for not designing custom cakes for gay weddings or gender transitions. In a related case, the Supreme Court this spring agreed to hear an appeal from a Christian therapist who is barred by Colorado law from discussing with her clients change from unwanted sexual desires or gender dysphoria. The state also requires therapists to promote gender-change ideology and to steer clients toward gender transitions. 

Photo: Aleksandar Tomic / Alamy.com