Oppose HB25-1312 - Protect Parental Rights and First Amendment

Testify AGAINST HB25-1312 "Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals" on Wednesday, April 30, at 1:30pm in the Old Supreme Court in the Capitol. Sign-up for testimony in-person or remotely HERE.

Memo on HB25-1312 “Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals”

On March 31, 2025, the Colorado General Assembly introduced HB 25-1312, the “Kelly Loving Act.” HB 1312 expands the “rights” of transgender individuals in multiple existing Colorado statutes, while violating the First Amendment rights of all Coloradans and visitors to Colorado.

HB25-1312 will have the following impact on families and faith-based institutions:

Impact on Families:

• Consider a parent’s position on their child’s trans-identity in child custody proceedings and prohibit the enforcement of other states’ custody laws related to parents who facilitate gender-affirming care. Meaning, parents could lose custody of their children if they do not affirm their child’s trans-identity.

• A parent who refers to their trans-identifying child by his or her birth name or uses pronouns consistent with the child’s biological sex could be deemed to be engaging in “coercive control.”

• Establish Colorado as a “sanctuary state” for families seeking gender-affirming care that might be restricted or criminalized in their home states.

• Violate the First Amendment rights of Coloradans and visitors to Colorado

Impact on Faith-based Institutions:

• Establish requirements for chosen name policies and gender-neutral dress codes in public and charter schools.

• Require organizations subject to public accommodation law, including Catholic and faith-based schools, hospitals, homeless shelters and other ministries that are not “places principally used for worship” (e.g., the parish building) to use an individual’s “chosen” name over their legal name.

• Prohibit places of public accommodation from publishing material that does not reflect a person’s chosen gender identity and preferred name, specifically establishing “deadnaming” and “misgendering” as discriminatory practices.

• Operate with HB25-1309 “Protect Access to Gender-Affirming Health Care,” which prohibits a health benefit plan from denying or limiting so-called “medically necessary gender-affirming health care.”

From Dr. Susan Selner-Wright, St. John Vianney Seminary:

“HB-25-1312 “Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals” criminalizes parents who attempt to protect their children from this dangerous ideology. This bill threatens parents who do not “affirm” a child’s announcement of a trans-identity with loss of custody. It mandates cooperation with social transition (names and dress associated with something other than natal sex), which greatly increases the likelihood that a child will continue on to hormonal and surgical interventions. It ignores the data indicating that up to 95% of kids who experience “gender dysphoria” will eventually become comfortable with their bodies if their normal maturation process is not disrupted by so-called “gender affirming care” (GAC). Rather, this bill mandates GAC, and further mandates that all “public accommodations” (potentially encompassing many Catholic apostolates and institutions) abide by the speech codes GAC requires. Its sister bill, HB25-1309 “Protect Access to Gender-Affirming Health Care,” requires insurance companies to pay for the hormonal and surgical interventions required for GAC. All this at a time when the UK and other Western countries are severely restricting GAC for minors because the science shows the harms associated with GAC are not justified by any scientifically verifiable benefits. Parents who intuitively know that their children need protection from GAC should not be forced to cooperate with it for fear of losing custody of their children.”

From Dr. Thomas Jensen, president of Colorado’s Catholic Medical Association:

Here is the data behind so-called gender-affirming care:

“1. Coercion is driving increased number of individuals identifying as “transgender”

• Detransition rates for youth with gender dysphoria are relatively high, which suggests coercion is driving the rise in the number of individuals identifying as transgender.

• A study on detransition rates found 67% of trans-identifying de-transitioned.

• Mortality rates and suicide attempts are greater for trans-identifying individuals, especially after surgical intervention

• Long-term data has not shown a significant benefit to medical and surgical transition.

• Mortality rates show that trans-identifying individuals are 19x more likely die from suicide and nearly 5x more likely to experience suicide attempts.Rates were worse for those who underwent surgery.

• Puberty blockers can cause irreversible damage (e.g. they do not “pause” puberty, as touted by proponent of gender affirming care)

• Individuals on puberty blockers showed lower bone density after puberty blockers.

• One study showed significant decrease in total hip bone-mineral-density after 15 years of Hormone Therapy.

• A Mayo Clinic Study noted testicular atrophy on physical exam of male youth placed on puberty blockers leading to concerns of damage to fertility admitting “to the best of our knowledge, no rigorous study has been reported on extended puberty blockade in pediatric populations and its long-term consequences on reproductive fitness.”

• A study of cognitive impairments from puberty blockers noted that “there is some evidence of a detrimental impact of pubertal suppression on IQ in children” with use of puberty blockers.

• Pro-transgender researchers were exposed for altering or blocking data that does not support trans-ideology

• Joanna Olson-Kennedy, a leading pediatric transgender provider, refused to publish a six-million-dollar study from a National Institute of Health grant that failed to show benefit from puberty blockers for 95 children after 2 years follow-up.

• Documents collected during Johns Hopkins University Evidence-Based Practice Center trials in Alabama showed World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) sent emails stating, “The board wants to be clear that the data cannot be used without WPATH approval.” In 2020, even though material for 6 papers was provided, only one was published.

• European Countries are severely limiting the use of Puberty Blockers and Cross-Sex Steroids

• Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, the UK’s largest Gender Identity Development Service, was forced to close in March 2024 following an independent review that showed concerns about efficacy and safety.

• Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and France have limited their transgender care programs to approved trials that are not for general public use.”

Hall, R., et al. (2024). Impact of social transition in relation to gender for children and adolescents: a systematic review. Archives of Disease in Childhood. See also KR Olson, et al. (2022). Gender identity 5 years after social transition. Pediatrics.

Steensma, T., et al. (2011). Desisting and persisting gender dysphoria after childhood. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Steensma, T., et al. (2013). Factors associated with desistence and persistence of childhood gender dysphoria. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Abassi, K (editor in chief). (2024). The (Final) Cass Review: An opportunity to unite behind evidence informed care in gender medicine. British Medical Journal. Summary of key recommendations from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. (2022). Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine. One year since Finland broke with WPATH 'Standards of Care'. (2021) Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.

Jiska Ristori & Thomas D. Steensma. (2016). Gender dysphoria in childhood. International Review of Psychiatry, 28:1, 13-20.

PLoS One 2011 Dhejne, et al. Follow up 1973-2003 of 324 transgender adults who underwent SRS compared to Control (1:10) matched for birth sex and age.

Branstrom and Pachankis. Am J Psychiatry. 2020;177(8):734.

Klink D, Caris M, Heijboer A, van Trotsenburg M, Rotteveel J. Bone mass in young adulthood following gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog treatment and cross-sex hormone treatment in adolescents with gender dysphoria. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015;100(2):E270-5.

Dobrolinska M, van der Tuuk K, Vink P, van den Berg M, Schuringa A, Monroy-Gonzalez AG, et al. Bone Mineral Density in Transgender Individuals After Gonadectomy and Long-Term Gender-Affirming Hormonal Treatment. J Sex Med. 2019;16(9):1469-77.

Murugesh V, Ritting M, Salem S, Aalam SMM, Garcia J, Chattha AJ, et al. Puberty Blocker and Aging Impact on Testicular Cell States and Function. bioRxiv. 2024.

Baxendale S. The impact of suppressing puberty on neuropsychological function: A review. Acta Paediatr. 2024.

“Research into trans medicine has been manipulated,” The Economist (27 June 2024), https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/06/27/research-into-trans-medicine-has-been-manipulated