Every Colorado Anti-Trans Ballot Initiative Fails To Collect Enough Signatures

The state is the latest in a series of states to fail to get anti-trans issues on the ballot in November, signifying potential fatigue among conservatives on the issue.

Colorado State Capitol - Hustvedt - Wikimedia Commons

On Monday, Protect Kids Colorado announced at a sparsely attended press conference that all its anti-transgender ballot initiatives failed to meet the signature requirements to appear on the 2024 ballot. The initiatives included a forced outing bill and a transgender sports ban, as well as previously failed measures such as banning gender-affirming care for trans youth. Colorado joins a series of states where anti-trans ballot initiatives have failed to meet the ballot signature requirements, indicating potential fatigue on the issue among conservative voters.

"We are striving to make Colorado a safer place to live for families and children. Despite falling short of the required signatures to make the 2024 ballot, we consider this ballot initiative effort a major success," the group announced to a handful of people carrying signs. The only video of the press conference appeared on a small YouTube account titled "1A Media," which briefly panned to show only two other people attending.

The group was responsible for two ballot initiatives approved for signature collection. The first, titled “Parental Notification of Gender Incongruence,” would have required public school employees to notify parents of any observed gender incongruence among students, effectively instituting a "forced outing" policy. The second, titled “Public Athletics Programs For Minors,” aimed to bar transgender individuals from participating in sports according to their gender identity. Other initiatives, such as “Prohibit Certain Medical Procedures For Minors,” which sought to ban gender-affirming care in the state, had failed earlier in the process.

The initiatives were heavily promoted by SPLC-designated hate groups and anti-transgender activists. Riley Gaines, for instance, called on "parents, coaches, spiritual leaders" to support the initiative effort on the Protect Kids California channel. Chloe Cole, who had pushed a similar failed initiative in California, also boosted the organization on her Twitter account. Gays Against Groomers Colorado posted the most widely viewed announcement, stating, "Although we were not successful in this round to get these issues onto the ballot, we were successful in educating Colorado voters about what is happening to children and motivating parents to become involved."

Anti-transgender ballot initiatives, once touted by influential activists as the next front in targeting transgender people, have faced significant setbacks in recent months. In Arizona, Republican Senator Ken Bennett cast the deciding vote against a ballot referendum that would have banned transgender youth from using bathrooms matching their gender identity. He expressed concerns about the constitutionality of the bill and mentioned in a separate hearing that he had family members who would be affected. Had he voted in favor of the bill, the question would have appeared on the 2024 ballot.

In California, Chloe Cole and Protect Kids California failed to get enough signatures for three anti-trans ballot initiatives after insisting that California could be “one of the first blue states to defeat gender ideology.”

Anti-transgender politics are becoming increasingly unpopular in polls. While public opinion can vary based on poll wording, a broader consensus is emerging: anti-trans measures are widely seen as a distraction. A recent LA Times/NORC poll found that 77% of voters believe elected officials use transgender debates to divert attention from more pressing issues. The poll also showed significant opposition to forced outing policies. A recent Navigator poll indicated that Democrats are favored on LGBTQ+ issues and protecting children, with respondents believing that gender-affirming care for transgender youth should be decided by patients, families, and doctors. A Gallup poll published in June revealed that while Americans have mixed views on the morality of transitioning, the majority oppose bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth. These and other polls consistently show that although Americans have nuanced views on transgender issues, they do not see these issues as particularly salient or worth legislating over.

When asked about the failure of this particular set of ballot initiatives in Colorado, transgender state representative Brianna Titone said, “Coloradans knew better than to sign a ballot petition supported by the Colorado GOP. Their obsession with hating the LGBTQ, and particularly the trans, community has been put on full display recently resulting in people denouncing and leaving the Republican party. The failure of these ballot initiatives prove that these measures and many of the views of the GOP are out of step with the values of most Coloradans. The fact that they could not get enough signatures, barely half, to be placed on the ballot shows they lack support from everyday voters. The extremist views, like those of Christian Nationalists, are not those of the mile high state.”