3 Policies on the Ballot in Colorado Are Misleading and Dangerous
This November, Colorado voters will decide on three ballot measures that target LGBTQ+ people and immigrant communities: Amendment 81, Proposition 134, and Proposition 135.
These proposals weren't born here in Colorado though. They're copy-pasted from a playbook being pushed in states across the country, and we are being treated as the next testing ground.
All three measures are written to sound reasonable, even protective, despite the real-life impacts they will have. That's not an accident. They are designed to make people think they're good ideas without looking too closely at what's actually inside them. So let's look closely.
Proposition 134: Not About Fair Sports
Proposition 134 would require all 179 school districts in Colorado, along with universities and athletic associations, to adopt invasive gender check policies, effectively banning transgender kids from playing sports with their peers and opening the door for all kids to be questioned about their gender and body. No exceptions. It doesn't matter how old they are or how long they've been on the team. This applies from kindergarten all the way through college.
Sports are supposed to give kids a way to belong, a way to learn how to work together, and most importantly a way to have fun. Supporters say this measure is about protecting girls' sports. But at the same time, one of the national organizations peddling policies like this one across the country is also working to weaken Title IX, the very policy that guarantees women and girls equal access to sports.
This isn't about girls' sports. It's about excluding trans kids, and it leaves schools and districts to figure out enforcement and funding with no state guidance on how far the checks could reach.
Proposition 135: Not About Surgeries
Proposition 135 would insert government into what should be private family decisions made with support from actual doctors. It would restrict the age-appropriate, gender-affirming care that parents can access for their own kids, even families who have done everything right: had extensive discussions with doctors, gotten evaluations, and made careful decisions together as a family.
Supporters say this measure is about stopping surgeries. But the measure's language reaches far beyond that, naming providers licensed in chiropractic care, physical therapy, podiatry, pharmacy, dentistry, psychology, mental health therapy, and other healing arts. Vague language like this doesn't stay contained to the procedures its supporters describe. It opens the door to removing access to far more, including mental health support for kids.
This isn't about surgeries. It's about giving government more power over a child’s medical care than the parents and doctors who actually know that child.
Amendment 81: Not About Safety
Amendment 81 would overturn current state law and permanently amend the Colorado Constitution, forcing local law enforcement to report people to ICE based on charges alone, not convictions. Someone accused, not proven guilty of anything, could lose everything: their freedom, their family, their life here just because they can’t immediately provide proof of citizenship.
This measure bakes discrimination into our state constitution. It invites profiling of all Coloradans, because citizenship status can't always be verified on the spot. People could be reported based on appearance, accent, language, or background. And it makes immigrant communities afraid to report a crime or cooperate with police, which makes every single one of us less safe.
This isn't about public safety. It's federal government overreach, handing authority that should belong to local communities and local law enforcement over to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, with no safeguards.
The Same Pattern, Three Times
Look closely and you'll see all three measures follow the same pattern: they take decisions and authority that should belong to families, doctors, local communities, or local law enforcement and hand it to the government instead. They're written broadly and vaguely, without clear enforcement guidance, which isn't an accident. It invites the widest possible reach and the fewest safeguards. Who enforces this? How are decisions made? What happens when someone gets it wrong? What safeguards actually exist? Voters deserve real answers to these questions, and these measures continue to offer more questions than answers.
These are attacks on the core Colorado values of freedom and privacy — values that Coloradans across the political spectrum share. And Coloradans deserve to decide their own future, not have it written for them by outside interests running the same playbook state to state.
And we can protect our future by voting in the November 3 election. Make sure you’re registered to vote. Make sure you fill out your ballot when it comes in the mail. And make sure you turn your ballot in before 7pm on November 3. Learn more here.
