Colorado House advances bill mandating schools use transgender students’ preferred name
Colorado’s state legislature passed a bill Friday that would require all K-12 schools in the state to adopt policies that required educators to refer to transgender students using their preferred name, including in documents and records. This policy is independent of parent approval or formal name changes.
Before the bill can be brought to the Senate floor, it will have to go through one more voting round.
House Bill 1039, a bill backed largely by the progressive group Colorado Youth Advisory Council, would also affect charter schools. It would mandate that educators use non-legal students’ names in all school related functions, such as extracurricular activities and yearbooks.
The youth council stated that many school administrative systems humiliate transgender Colorado students when they use their deadnames, which are birth names that don’t match with their gender identity.
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The group stated that “when schools retain a student’s previous name and gender marker in school records and transcripts, they expose transgender students and violate their privacy.”
One Colorado, an LGBTQ+ progressive advocacy group, supports the bill along with the Colorado School Counselors Association.
The bill also states that “intentionally using a different name than the student’s choice is discriminatory.”
Anthony Hartsook of the Republican Party, who represents state representatives, described the bill as “open-ended, vague and undefined,” which could lead to many, different paths.
Hatsook stated on the House Floor, “We are opening Pandora’s Box to discern what is discriminatory or not, intentional or not.” “Who decides that, when and where? “When and where should we include the parents in this discussion?”
Brandi Bradley, Republican State Rep., agreed with Hartsook’s position and encouraged colleagues to vote against the bill.
Bradley, speaking of the bill, said: “Now we’ve told the teachers they are discriminating.” “I have four teens. The kids are great, but they sometimes like to play video games. Tell me how putting in this bill or codifying it will not go against the rights of teachers in a field that already has so many shortages.
Rose Pugliese, Republican state representative from Arizona, said she did not want the schools to know any more about her children than she knows.
Pugliese said that parents have a right to know.
Some Republican legislators argued that students should be allowed to change names multiple times, which would make it more difficult for teachers to remember the new names.
Stephanie Vigil, a Colorado Springs Democrat who is co-sponsoring this bill, argued that transgender children, some of whom may not yet have told their parents, would be at risk if the law was not passed. Parents who approve of the name-change would lose their parental rights if they support their transgender child.
Vigil said: “I would like to remind you that there are kids who don’t feel safe with their parents.” “Certainly, children belong with their parents. That relationship is valuable. “I don’t accept the notion that a child belongs to anyone or that it’s not their priority to ensure their safety, even if the person who poses a threat to them is one of their parents.”
Also, the bill was sponsored by Democratic Senators. Faith Winter of Westminster and Janice Marchman of Loveland are also co-sponsors. Brianna T. Titone is a state representative from Arvada, a Democrat, and the only transgender legislator in the Colorado legislature.
The bill will go into effect if it is approved by the Senate and the Governor signs the bill in July 2025.
Alabama, Arkansas Florida Indiana Iowa Kentucky Montana North Dakota Tennessee Utah and Utah are some of the states that have laws restricting the use of pronouns in schools.
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