Controversial Colorado transgender rights bill undergoes dramatic changes

The most significant provisions of a contentious Colorado bill regarding transgender rights have been stripped out by state lawmakers. It had become so controversial that the bill was in danger of failing in the state Senate.  

While transgender Coloradans and their supporters say the bill doesn't go far enough now, opponents say it still goes too far.

People in favor and in opposition came in droves to testify on the bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Colorado State Capitol on Wednesday night.

The original bill would have required courts to consider whether a parent is gender affirming when deciding child custody cases. That provision is now removed, and parents who misgender their children will still get the same amount of consideration in such cases. But some parents who testified Wednesday say that's not the way things are always happening.

Bill sponsors are also removing a provision that would have treated misgendering, or refusing to use a person's preferred name and pronoun, as discrimination.

The bill still requires schools to have gender neutral dress codes and to use transgender students' preferred names if they allow nicknames.

Some bill opponents gathered outside the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver with petitions urging lawmakers to support parental rights and oppose the bill.  

"These are radical ideologues determined to replace your authority as a parent with the power of the state," said Lori Gimelshteyn, Executive Director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network.

"Because I objected to my 30 year old son being placed on puberty blockers the courts stripped me of my rights," one parent said.  

Inside the building, supporters urged lawmakers to oppose discrimination and support the bill.

"Trans people in Colorado are struggling with the most basic aspects of life: housing, health care, employment, education," Z Williams said. "The bill in front of you presents solutions, tangible solutions, to the pain of Coloradans."

About 700 people signed up to testify on the bill. It passed through the committee, but its fate on the state Senate floor is unclear.

The bill easily made it out of the state House, with all but one Democrat voting in favor of it. All the Republicans were opposed to it.