One Colorado Celebrates Big Wins In Legislative Session

One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy program for LGBTQ equality, is celebrating two big wins in the current legislative session. Two of the organization’s top priority bills have been passed and will soon be signed into state law.

HB21-1072 will help the nearly 9,000 foster children in Colorado find a loving and affirming home. The bill, which Governor Polis signed into law last week, promotes equality within the foster care system by ensuring anti-discrimination protections for both LGBTQ foster youth and LGBTQ foster parents. The bill also requires LGBTQ-inclusivity training for prospective foster parents to give a baseline of knowledge and understanding if a youth who identifies as LGBTQ is placed in their care.

“We want to make sure that LGBTQ youth receive the services that they should receive and that they are placed in affirming homes. There is a lot of churn in the system, and when the placement isn’t affirming or is a mix-match, they get placed back in the system,” says Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood.

The other bill passed is HB21-1108, which updates Colorado’s existing anti-discrimination protections by clarifying that gender identity and gender expression are protected under the law. The bill has been passed and is currently on its way to signature by Governor Jared Polis.

“We know that laws are more impactful when they are explicitly clear. By modernizing the language, we make a strong statement that transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive folks are equally protected in Colorado,” reads One Colorado’s newsletter regarding the bill.

In the face of many other states passing anti-LGBTQ and specifically anti-trans legislation, One Colorado has made promises to continue to work with state and federal policymakers for more protections.

“While we continue to see advancements for LGBTQ equality in Colorado, we are mindful of the impact that anti-transgender legislation proposed in states across the country has on the health and safety of transgender youth everywhere. One Colorado continues to collaborate with other state equality groups as well as advocate for federal anti-discrimination protections through the Equality Act.”

The Equality Act is a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service.

“While we live in a state where LGBTQ Coloradans are protected from discrimination under the law, our friends and loved ones in other states remain under attack. We need to move beyond this patchwork policy and pass explicit and consistent non-discrimination protections for all LGBTQ people,” Jessica Zender from One Colorado says regarding the Equality Act.