The Colorado House of Representatives gave preliminary approval in a party-line vote to two bills to protect trans rights this past Friday in what one of the bill’s sponsors says is a direct rebuke of the president’s attacks on trans rights.

“What’s happening at the federal level is casting a long shadow and we don’t know what the future holds,” said out trans state Rep. Brianna Titone (D), the sponsor of H.B. 24-1309, according to Colorado Newsline. “Passing this bill is… about taking control of what we can do to ensure that our friends and neighbors and family members continue to get the care they need regardless of what might happen in the future.”

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H.B. 25-1309 would make it illegal for health insurance providers to deny or limit gender-affirming care provided by a doctor and codify public health rules that protect gender-affirming care in the state. It would also exempt testosterone prescriptions from a state monitoring program intended to limit the abuse of controlled substances.

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“This bill codifies existing standards into statute to provide long-term stability and clarity for patients,” said state Rep. Kyle Brown (D).

State Republicans tried to amend the bill to exclude gender-affirming care for trans minors, but that measure was rejected by the chamber, where Democrats hold the majority.

The other bill, H.B. 25-1312, would allow courts to consider deadnaming and other forms of misgendering in child custody disputes. It would also protect parents from other states who come to Colorado for gender-affirming care if such care is illegal in their home states.

It also says that deadnaming and misgendering are discriminatory acts under the state’s anti-discrimination law and requires schools to accept trans students’ chosen names. It would also ban schools from having gendered dress codes.

“Supporting a child’s gender identity is indeed in the best interest of the child, and that support cannot be used against a loving and supportive parent in a dispute,” said state Rep. Rebekah Stewart (D), the bill’s sponsor.

Republicans said that this is an attack on parental rights, specifically the right of parents to refuse to accept their children for who they are.

“The idea that misgendering your own child is considered coercive control, which is another word for child abuse, because you want to get your child help instead of affirming their delusions,” said state Rep. Jarvis Caldwell (R). “This is the most disgusting bill I’ve seen so far.”

Both bills still need to get through another vote in the state house and then pass the state senate, which is also controlled by Democrats. Out Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is a Democrat as well.

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