Colorado House Passes Bill Treating as Child Abuse Dissent From Transgender Orthodoxy

April 10, 2025

The Colorado House of Representatives passed a bill that would remove children from their parents’ custody for “misgendering” or “deadnaming” the child.

The Daily Signal reports that HB 1312, passed by a vote of 36 in favor, 20 against and with nine members of the House absent.

With a ratio of 43 Democrats to 22 Republicans, the Colorado House held the vote on Sunday and excluded parental rights groups from participating in discussion on the bill.

Republican Rep. Jarvis Caldwell accused the Democrats of having “crossed the Rubicon” by silencing debate on the issue due to the unpopularity of their position.

In a statement on Sunday, Caldwell told the Daily Signal, “After preventing us from the ability to debate, Colorado House Democrats rammed through HB 1312. It’s codifying into law that if their ideology confuses your child, and you don’t affirm that delusion, you’re committing child abuse and can lose custody of your child.”

Parental rights groups who opposed the bill were compared to the Ku Klux Klan by Democratic Rep. Yara Zokaie during a hearing last week on the measure.

When asked if parent groups that are not part of the LGBT community were involved in discussing the bill, Zokaie said, “A well-stakeholded bill does not need to be discussed with hate groups, and we don’t ask someone passing civil rights legislation to go ask the KKK their opinion.”

A summary of the bill states: “A court shall consider reports of coercive control when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities in accordance with the best interests of the child.”

HB 1312 defines “coercive control” as including “deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health care services.”

Critics of the measure say this would effectively force parents to endorse gender ideology in order to maintain custody of their children during a dispute.

The bill now goes to the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.

If HB 1312 passes through that committee, it will go to the state Senate and then to Democratic Gov. Jared Polis who is a supporter of gender ideology.

Photo: top, Credit: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images