Pro-Trans Bills in Colorado

April 16, 2025

I think we can all agree that the news has been, in a word, terrible. Yet there are still glimmers of hope (however faint) that some people in power are trying to protect human rights. Take the recent example in Colorado, where lawmakers introduced two bills aimed at supporting trans people.

The first bill, House Bill 25-1309, would prohibit health insurance providers from limiting access to gender-affirming care deemed medically necessary by a health care provider. Additionally, it would remove testosterone from Colorado’s prescription drug monitoring program, an important step toward protecting the privacy of trans people.

The second bill, House Bill 25-1312, involves a slew of mechanisms to ensure trans people’s safety and dignity. This bill would classify misgendering, deadnaming, and threatening to disclose someone’s gender-affirming care as forms of coercive control. It would mandate schools accommodate a student who can’t use their legal name for any reason. These are just two of the ways in which the bill addresses challenges that many trans people face.

Allowing people to actually follow doctors’ advice in caring for themselves isn’t radical; it’s basic common sense. So is recognizing that threats are abusive, and that respecting people’s wishes for how to address them is basic human decency.

We at the Woodhull Freedom Foundation sincerely hope that these bills become law. We urge you to reach out and thank the legislators taking the courageous action to protect trans people and human rights in this awful environment.