New Colorado Laws Could Set National Standard for Trans Protections

In the lead-up to Trans Day of Visibility, Colorado lawmakers introduced two bills aimed at expanding legal protections for transgender people and improving access to gender-affirming care.

House Bill 25-1309, co-sponsored by transgender state representative Brianna Titone (D), would prohibit health insurance providers from limiting access to gender-affirming care deemed medically necessary by a health care provider. This is increasingly important as anti-trans policy changes under the Trump administration have prompted concerns that some insurance companies might reduce coverage for gender-affirming care to avoid federal scrutiny.

“Transgender Coloradans are part of the fabric of our communities. They are parents, students, care givers, faith leaders and neighbors,” said Democratic Sen. Lisa Cutter, another sponsor of the bill. “They experience elevated levels of poverty, discrimination and violence.”

The bill also removes testosterone from Colorado’s prescription drug monitoring program, reducing the burden on trans people and helping to safeguard access to hormone therapy. In recent years, transgender men have raised concerns that including testosterone in these databases could trigger privacy violations, lead to provider scrutiny, or expose patients to targeted state-level enforcement.

Lawmakers also introduced House Bill 25-1312, known as the Kelly Loving Act, which proposes sweeping protections across education, family law and public accommodations. “This bill expands protections for trans workers, parents, students, and children in Colorado,” the trans-led legal nonprofit Bread and Roses Legal Center said on Instagram.

Last summer, the organization partnered with legislators to introduce the bill and began consulting transgender Coloradans about what they needed from a “trans bill of rights.” Over 500 transgender residents participated in the survey.

The bill “is named after Kelly Loving, an amazing trans community member and advocate stolen from us on the eve of Trans Day of Remembrance at Club Q,” the organization said.

“Kelly came to Colorado for her birthday and was thinking about moving here. She saw the state as an opportunity and went to Club Q and was killed by a mass shooting. We grew very close to her family. I remember her sister saying the most important thing we can do for Kelly is make sure that no one goes through what she’s gone through ever and she is remembered not just for how she died but how she lived,” said Z Williams, director of client support and operations at Bread and Roses Legal Center.

The bill would classify misgendering, deadnaming, and threats to disclose someone’s gender-affirming care as forms of coercive control in custody proceedings. It would also prohibit Colorado courts from enforcing out-of-state laws that seek to punish families for supporting a child’s access to gender-affirming care.

The bill would also make schools safer for trans students. It mandates that schools accommodate any reason a student may use a name different from their legal name and requires all dress codes to be gender-neutral and inclusive. The bill requires public agencies to provide space for both legal and chosen names on forms — and once a chosen name is listed, it must be used on all future documentation. Additionally, the legislation would amend the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act to explicitly define misgendering and deadnaming as discriminatory acts.

“My hope is that it is history making,” Williams told a local news network in August. “It’s actually changing the dynamics for trans people and their everyday lives.”

The bill builds on momentum from last year, when the Bread and Roses Legal Center drafted and lobbied for the passage of “Tiara’s Law,” which clarified that seeking a name change to align with one’s gender identity constitutes “good cause” under state law. Although transgender people with felony records were legally allowed to change their names in Colorado, they continued to face stigma and systemic barriers that made the process especially challenging, issues that this law addressed.

According to transgender journalist and activist Erin Reed, Colorado is currently one of 16 states considered “most protective” for trans adults. However, after some Denver clinics preemptively complied with one of Trump’s many anti-trans executive orders by restricting gender-affirming care, Colorado’s ranking for trans youth safety dropped from “safest” to merely “low risk.” Still, Colorado remains rated “high” on the LGBTQ Policy Tally by the Movement Advancement Project. The state further enjoys a shield law that protects gender-affirming care practitioners from out-of-state investigation and also has banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth — which was recently taken up for consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Because of these protections, Colorado has experienced an influx of transgender people relocating to the state. The Trans Continental Pipeline, a nonprofit that assists with relocation, received more than 500 requests for assistance after Trump’s reelection in November. In January, the organization had a caseload of nearly 1,200.

“I don’t know a single trans person whose life has not upended in some way — regardless of their economic status, race, or immigration status. Even people who have a tremendous amount of privilege and access have experienced fundamental safety shifts in their lives,” Williams said. “I’ve heard of folks not being allowed to fly and people have lost their jobs on the basis of executive orders. It has emboldened our social bias against trans people.”

The new bills were praised by LGTBQ advocates in the state. Alex Lemmel, president of OUTLaws, an LGBTQ law student group at the University of Denver, told Truthout that the bills would “strengthen protections for transgender Coloradans and expand access to crucial gender-affirming care.”

“As a non-binary plaintiff’s employment attorney, I have dedicated my career to advocating for equal access to basic rights and human dignity,” Hayden DePorter, an attorney at HKM Employment Attorneys, told Truthout. “These bills are necessary actions to ensure transgender and non-binary Coloradans have access to the health care they need and the freedom to live life authentically, free from discrimination.”

If passed, the bills would cement Colorado as a leader in the country on trans rights as the Trump administration escalates attacks on trans communities across the country.

“Trans people are scared and hurting right now — we don’t need vague statements of support or allyship, we need concrete action. It is refreshing to see that Colorado is actually putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to defending and protecting its citizens,” Iris, a trans Coloradoan, told Truthout. “Obviously, no law is perfect and there will always be more to be done, but seeing my adopted home state actually do something to protect me and my community does mean a lot.”