by Colleen Enos

Colorado may go down in history as the most ideologically extreme state in the nation. Between throwing President Trump off the ballot in 2024, persecuting Christian bakers and graphic designers, and banning free speech in religious counseling for minors dealing with sexual identity issues, Colorado is consistently striking out.

The decisions made by our legal institutions are continually being overturned by the United States Supreme Court on basic constitutional arguments. Let’s take the state’s radical positions on gender theory. Just two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to reverse the Tenth Circuit decision on Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy for minors. The Court held that the Colorado law blatantly violated First Amendment speech protections for licensed counselors based on viewpoint by regulating counselors’ disfavored speech and specifically promoting the state-endorsed viewpoint. CHEC has issued a statement on the decision.

With such an overwhelming majority decision, one would think that the Colorado legislature would sit up and take notice. But alas, they did not. Just two days later, on April 1, the Colorado House debated and passed another Conversion Therapy bill. HB26-1322, Civil Actions for Conversion Therapy Survivors, removes the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits against a “licensed mental health professional” who counsels regarding sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts. It continues the ideological talking point that speech is violence by referring to clients receiving this counseling as “survivors.” Overtly anti-faith, this bill could also be used against people hiring counselors for their loved ones who are struggling with same-sex attraction and gender identity. The derogatory term “conversion therapy” is used to describe biblical counseling efforts in this area. The chamber’s Democratic majority used controversial Rule 14 to limit debate to three hours and pass the bill. The Conversion Therapy bill continues to the State Senate.

Although SB26-018, Legal Protections for the Dignity of Minors, was amended to remove the worst section that tied parenting time to affirming a child’s gender identity, what remained was a secrecy provision hiding a child’s name change from a non-custodial parent who disagreed with the change and violating their parental right to require consent to the change. While denying this intent, proponents voted down three separate amendments from the Senate and the House to require consent of both parents for the name change. (Amendments L007, L019 and L020) Naturally, Rule 14 was applied again to limit debate to three hours and pass the bill. Ideology wins again.

“Coercive control” appeared once again to raise its ugly head in HB26-1309, Abuse in Cases of Separation. What looked like a noble-sounding title about abuse of adults was clandestinely hiding a redefinition of domestic violence related to children. The expansive definition of “coercive control” includes isolating children from friends or family, monitoring their finances, activities, or communication, and regulating their everyday behavior. These vague descriptions capture things that a good mom or dad does to parent their child.

The broad redefined term of domestic violence includes “health-related abuse,” which is defined as “interfering with medical, mental health, or reproductive care” (page 7). In Colorado, reproductive health care includes gender identity and gender expression. Consequently, a parent could be found guilty of health-related abuse if they disagree with a spouse or child, believe in God-ordained genders, and act on their convictions. This bill puts people of faith at risk.

The state’s priorities are being challenged by HB26-1410, 2026-27 Long Appropriations Bill, which is the budget bill for next year. Occupying the lion’s share of the time in the House last week, legislators had to make cuts of up to $1.5 billion to balance the budget. Although the majority party continues to blame the current administration for the shortfall, it is a self-inflicted wound resulting from unsound philosophical and financial decisions. The House met on Saturday to pass the bill and all its related orbital measures on third reading, while the Senate will begin the process as soon as this week.

We will see how much the Colorado economy can take of the current extreme gender theory. After all, lawsuits are not free, and Coloradans are footing the bill for all of them.

What you can do:

• Call and email your state representative and state senator:
  1. Ask them to protect Colorado families.
  2. Tell them to vote against HB26-1322 and HB26-1309.
  3. Ask them to vote for a responsible budget.
• Tell Governor Polis to veto SB26-018.
• Vote for new Colorado leadership this fall!

In Him,

Colleen Enos
CHEC Director of Government Relations
Colleen@CHEC.org

About the Author: Colleen Enos