Democrats in Colorado Move To Force Public Schools to Socially Transition Students

(NewsReady.com) – The fight over what schools should do about transgender students continues to be an issue around the country. Students in Colorado are trying to force schools to adopt their made-up names and pronouns. Democrats are considering the legislation.

The Colorado Youth Advisory Council is a group of 40 youths who give young people a voice in the state. There are 35 voting members who represent each Senate district in the state, two youths who speak for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and three non-voting members who represent rural areas. One of the issues the advisory council is focusing its attention on is trans students.

The council brought House Bill 1039 to the Colorado Legislature. The bill seeks to force public and charter schools to use a student’s preferred name if they request one. If a school refuses, it would be considered a form of discrimination. The legislation also wants to create a task force for non-legal name changes in the Colorado Department of Education that would be made up of nine members. Those members would provide recommendations to schools on how to implement non-legal name changes.

Democratic state Senator Janice Marchman told the Washington Free Beacon that students have a First Amendment right to use their “chosen name” at school.

Meghan Taylor, 17, is a member of the Youth Advisory Council and led the process to draft the bill. She told Westword that it was inspired by the story of 18-year-old August Tribble who tried, but failed, to get his name changed at school. The transgender male had been going by the name “August” after the lockdowns, which allowed him to change his identity. Then, one day, a substitute teacher called him by his female birth name, outing him. Taylor claimed her bill would make school a “safe place.”

Critics of the legislation say it allows schools to hide information from parents and bolsters gender identity in schools. Lori Gimelshteyn, head of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, said the bill violates the First Amendment and “employees that [sic] cannot in good conscience abide by” it.