HB1312 updates the state's anti-discrimination laws to protect people from discrimination based on gender identity, and includes provisions affecting family law, education, and public accommodations—such as allowing more flexibility in changing gender markers on IDs and addressing issues such as "deadnaming" or refusing to use a person's chosen name in certain contexts.
The Colorado State House of Representatives passed HB1312 on May 6, 2025 by a vote of 40 to 24. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill imposes sweeping government mandates that threaten individual liberty, religious freedom, and freedom of conscience. By redefining "discrimination" to include contested concepts such as "gender identity," HB1312 invites compelled speech and behavior — including penalties related to "deadnaming" pronoun usage, and compliance in education, family law, and public accommodations. These provisions risk punishing individuals who decline to affirm state-mandated ideology that conflicts with their sincerely held religious or moral beliefs. In doing so, the bill expands government power into personal and private decisions, undermining First Amendment protections and setting the stage for coercive enforcement against those who simply seek to live and operate according to their conscience.
