Colorado’s legislature gave final approval to a bill further extending civil rights protections to the transgender community after the most controversial section regarding child custody and parental visitation rights was removed, Colorado Newsline reports.
House Bill 1312, entitled The Kelly Loving Act, named after a transgender woman murdered in the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, passed the state’s Senate by a vote of 20-14 on Tuesday, and the amended bill passed the House by a vote of 40-24 later that evening. The bill now heads to the desk of gay Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for his signature or veto.
If signed by Polis, the new law would “define deadnaming and misgendering as discriminatory acts in the ‘Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act,’ and prohibit these discriminatory acts in places of public accommodation.”
The Kelly Loving Act defines “chosen name” as a name chosen by a person and related to a person’s “disability, race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, familial status, national origin, or ancestry, so long as the name does not contain offensive language and the individual is not requesting the name for frivolous purposes.”
The new law would nix the requirement of a court order to change a person’s gender marker on their driver’s license, and would also permit a second or third change as well.
The Kelly Loving Act would require schools to allow students to follow the gender-specific dress code of their choosing and be “inclusive of all reasons” why a student would opt for a chosen name.
The bill’s Section II was removed via amendment in the Senate after causing some controversy. That section instructed courts to “consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control,” when the courts were “making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall.”
Still, LGBTQ+ groups applauded the bill’s passage.
“The Kelly Loving Act is an example of people-powered legislation that centers community voices,” Rocky Mountain Equality said in a statement posted to social media. “Without the many transgender people who bravely testified, shared their stories, and led in the advocacy for this bill, this would not have been possible. This is a win for trans people and for every Coloradan who believes in justice.”
“Thanks to collaborative efforts, the Kelly Loving Act has been strengthened with new protections that enhance both its legal resilience and real-world effectiveness,” One Colorado said in a statement posted to social media. “These improvements build on the solid foundation laid by the bill’s drafters, showing what’s possible when community wisdom, shared purpose, and sustained support come together.”
Polis is expected to sign the bill.