This story by Lindsey Toomer appeared on Colorado Newsline on March 27, 2026.
Colorado LGBTQ advocates launched a campaign Friday outside of the Colorado Capitol to encourage “no” votes on two anti-trans measures on the 2026 ballot.
The Families Not Politics campaign is urging Coloradans to vote against two ballot measures that would prevent transgender children from participating in school sports and receiving gender-affirming surgeries.
Protect Kids Colorado, a coalition led by prominent anti-LGBTQ+ activist Erin Lee, is backing the two initiatives. The Secretary of State’s office confirmed petitions in support of both measures received enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.
Nadine Bridges, executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy organization One Colorado, which is leading the Families Not Politics campaign, said the measures are targeting “some of the most vulnerable members of our community” and could have unintended consequences that harm all children.
“Taken together, these measures represent a level of government overreach that goes too far,” Bridges said. “They threaten the privacy of our families, undermine the freedom to make personal decisions, and risk dignity and well-being of young people across our state. And we are not going to let that happen.”
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Cobalt, Inside Out Youth Services, Interfaith Alliance, Black Pride and the Center on Colfax are supporting the Families Not Politics campaign with One Colorado.
Anna Hallen said since her daughter came out to her as transgender when she was 9 years old, she has listened, asked questions, researched and done everything she can “to make sure that my child is safe, healthy and able to be herself.”
“When your child shares who they are with you, everything shifts. Not in a scary way, but in a very real, very human way, and since then, we’ve been learning together,” Hallen said. “My child’s identity is not an ideology. It’s not a belief system. It’s who she is. She is just a kid who wants to grow up feeling confident, supported, and free to be herself.”
Initiative 109
Initiative 109 would add language in state statute to define boys and girls based on physical anatomy, excluding transgender people.
Sports teams sponsored by schools or athletic associations would be required to expressly designate those teams for men, women or co-ed. Schools and their athletic departments would be required to adopt policies implementing the requirements of the initiative.
“If this passes, anybody could demand an inspection on little girls they think are too tall or too strong for sports, and every single parent here today and across Colorado should be horrified by this,” Jack Teter, vice president of government affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said.
The policy could open the door to “invasive inspections and humiliating scrutiny” to all children seeking to play sports, Bridges said. The language in Initiative 109 is vague and doesn’t clearly specify how it would be enforced, she said.
Mike Smith, a veteran and father of two cisgender children, said Initiative 109 would “create a system where any child can be questioned, scrutinized, or singled out.” He said both of his children are tall, and he worries that someone might decide his daughter looks too tall to play on the girl’s volleyball team without an invasive inspection.
“This is about whether we trust parents to raise their kids. It’s about whether we stand for freedom and dignity,” Smith said. “And it’s about whether we allow the government to invade my children’s privacy so that people who want to divide us can divide us even more.”
Initiative 110
Initiative 110 would prohibit health care professionals from knowingly performing any surgery on a minor “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics.” The measure would also prohibit state and federal funding including Medicaid from being used to pay for gender-affirming procedures.
Catherine Lindsey, whose daughter is transgender, said the idea that her daughter should be treated differently or subjected to scrutiny “just for being herself” is “appalling to me as a parent.” No child should have to prove who they are to be accepted and that, and decisions about her child’s health care should not be made by politicians, she said.
“As a parent, I know my child better than anyone,” Lindsey said. “When it comes to important life decisions around her health, she works closely with the family that loves her, and the doctors who she trusts. Those decisions are thoughtfully made, and they are rooted in love and care.”
There isn’t clear data on the number of transgender student athletes in Colorado, and the two major hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors in the state do not offer surgeries to minors.
Initiatives 109 and 110 will be renumbered as propositions when they appear on Colorado’s ballot this fall. The number and sequence of 2026 ballot measures will be finalized by the secretary of state’s office in August.
Protect Kids Colorado is also backing a ballot measure to increase penalties for child human trafficking in Colorado. The election will occur on November 3.
Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.
Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.