Colorado’s Catholic bishops are throwing their support behind two ballot initiatives regarding transgender youth.
According to the Colorado Secretary of State, Initiatives 109 and 110 qualified for November’s general election ballot. The Colorado Catholic Conference, which includes four bishops from the state’s three dioceses, has long supported these measures along with Initiative 108, which supporters say would strengthen the laws against sex trafficking of children.
“We are absolutely thrilled to hear that the three parental rights initiatives, number 108, number 109, number 110 have all cleared the Secretary of State and are headed to the November 2026 ballot,” said Brittany Vessely, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference.
The Colorado Catholic Conference supported the signature collection for the ballot measures through an open letter last August. Three weekends were designated at parishes for signature collections. Both initiatives regarding transgender youth met the required signature threshold in January and qualified for the ballot this week.
“This was a Herculean effort by volunteers, millions of volunteers across the state of Colorado from all different political backgrounds, different faith backgrounds, and for the Catholics,” Vessely said. “Specifically, our bishops asked all 250 parishes across the state of Colorado to participate in signature collection on all three initiatives. So, we're very thankful for all the Catholic faithful that joined in this effort that ultimately brought over half a million signatures to the Secretary of State to say, ‘We want to protect our kids.’”
Initiative 109 requires student athletes to participate in sports sponsored by a school or athletic association based on their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity. If approved, it would require schools to adopt a policy implementing the policy. Enforcement of the policy would be the responsibility of the Colorado Department of Education.
“The Catholic Church, while we have a direct interest, obviously in Catholic education in protecting our Catholic institutions, we are concerned also for the common good of all Coloradans and believe that there are inherent biological differences that put girls at a disadvantage physically, but also threaten their safety if their biological sex is not respected in their sports programs,” Vessely said.
Current policies in the state allow students to play on teams that align with their gender identity.
The other measure, Initiative 110, prohibits certain gender-affirming surgical procedures for children. It also says that state and federal funds, Medicaid reimbursements or insurance coverage should not be used to pay for those types of procedures on minors.
“We believe that through Catholic doctrine, there is a biological reality to one's sex that is assigned at birth and there is no difference between gender and biological sex,” Vessely said.
Both measures are the product of work by Protect Kids Colorado, a conservative advocacy group based out of Colorado Springs. Rocky Mountain Equality, an opponent of the ballot measures, calls the proposals an “attack on Colorado families modeled after national extremist efforts.” There is other organized opposition to the initiatives as well, including by a group called Families Not Politics.
The validation of the ballot measures comes a week before Archbishop-designate James R. Golka is installed as the archbishop of Denver. Golka had spent the last four years as Bishop of Colorado Springs.
The Colorado Catholic Conference will campaign to help pass the initiatives.
“It's one thing to pass the initiatives and get them on the ballots. It’s another thing to make sure that the campaign for each is strong and that the electorate will come out and support these initiatives to turn them into law,” Vessely said. “So that's the next step, is to start building up reserves, to start building what that campaign looks like, because the messaging will have to start going out in the summer leading up to the November election.”
On the federal level, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders on both issues since returning to office. They have since trickled down to the state level including Colorado.
President Trump signed the Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports executive order in February 2025. The policy threatens to rescind federal funding from educational programs that allow transgender people to participate in sports that align with their gender identity. Several schools and universities have since modified their policies and erased records set by transgender athletes to comply with the executive order.
Last December, the Colorado High School Activities Association, the organization that oversees high school sports and activities in the state, settled a lawsuit with several school districts over transgender participation in high school sports. Colorado Springs-area District 49 and other school districts challenged the CHSAA bylaws on transgender athlete participation and use of locker rooms, saying they violated federal equal protection guarantees and Title IX.
