By: Claire Sweetman
Colorado Legislature Introduces New Laws that Could Set National Standards for Transgender Protections
On March 28, 2025, Colorado legislators introduced two bills that would add legal protections for transgender people and expand insurance coverage for gender-affirming health care.[1]
HB 25-1309
The first bill, House Bill 25-1309, concerns health care. It prohibits health insurance plans from denying or limiting medically necessary gender-affirming health care services. Individual providers determine whether a care is considered medically necessary, not the insurance company.[2] Gender-affirming care can range from medicine and procedures such as hormone therapy and surgery, to non-medical interventions like haircuts and name changes. The bill is inclusive of all medical care, including psychiatric, surgical, or therapeutic supplies and services. It would also include coverage for cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries.[3] This bill also removes testosterone from Colorado’s prescription drug monitoring program, reducing the burden on trans people and helping to safeguard access to hormone therapy.
HB 25-1312
The second bill, House Bill 25-1312, concerns schools. The bill has been dubbed the Kelly Loving Act in honor of a transgender woman who was killed during the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. The bill adds new legal protections for transgender people in education, family legal matters, and public accommodation.[4]
The bill requires schools that have dress code policies to not include any rules based on gender. Additionally, each student must be permitted to abide by any variation of the dress code based on gender. Furthermore, the bill requires that schools, if they establish policies related to chosen names, must include all reasons that a student might choose to use a name that’s different than their legal name.[5]
The bill also prohibits Colorado courts from complying with orders or laws from other states that threaten to take children away from parents or caregivers who allowed the child access to gender-affirming care. In child custody case, the court must consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish information related to an individual’s gender-affirming care as a form of “coercive control.” Deadnaming and misgendering are also defined as discriminatory acts in the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.[6]
Stay tuned on the progress of these two new bills.
[1] https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/colorado-bills-protections-transgender-people/
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.