Parental rights activists are sounding alarms over a controversial bill passed by the Colorado state House, warning that it could have far-reaching implications for families—especially in child custody disputes—if families refer to their children by their baby names or pronouns that don’t coincide with the child’s female personality.
House Bill 25-1312, one of several procedures backed by Democrat lawmakers earlier this month, introduces state-enforced gender identity policies in classrooms. It furthermore redefines certain parental activities as “coercive power ” in guardianship cases, including situations where a family does not recognize a child’s stated gender identity.
Specifically, the act instructs courts to address actions such as “deadnaming, misgendering or threatening to submit material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services” as aggressive tactics when evaluating what serves a child’s best interests in prison and trip matters.
If passed into law, the measure would create the Kelly Loving Act, named in remembrance of a trans man who was killed in a 2022 bar filming in Colorado. The proposed legislation would also ban Colorado authorities from recognizing out-of-state decisions that penalize families who allow transgender-related health care for minors.
Erin Friday, a lifelong Democrat and vocal parental rights activist, emphasized that the relevance of this bill may worry people across the political spectrum. “The issue should be bipartisan, ” she said, urging parents to challenge the legislation through legal action, public discourse, and civic engagement, including testimony at legislative hearings.
Both Friday and Colorado mother Erin Lee reject the notion that children can be born in the wrong body. The measure, which now awaits consideration in the state Senate, has drawn fierce debate. During a public hearing last month, a Democratic lawmaker compared parents opposing the bill to extremist groups, including “the KKK. ”
“This is giving the authority to our state to take our children away if we don’t agree with these gender transitions, so it ’s got huge ramifications for all parents, especially those in custody situations who are fighting with their ex-spouses to stop their children from being medicalized, ” said Lee during a Monday appearance on Fox News ’ The Faulkner Focus.
She continued, “It opens the door for all parents to potentially have their children forcibly removed by the state if they’re not willing to affirm their child’s mental health distress. ”
Lee and Friday have deeply personal reasons for opposing the bill. Both women say their daughters once identified as boys, but they did not support their daughters ’ transitions. In time, both daughters ceased identifying as transgender.
“This bill will not only determine that parents like Erin and I are abusers — both of us had Child Protective Services come to our home when we refused to call our daughter males— but this bill also affects the press and its freedom of the press, and it will require them to use the chosen name of a child, how they choose it, and any adult, ” Friday cautioned. She also described the proposed legislation as a “massive First Amendment violation ” if it goes into effect.
