Colorado Voters Pass Limits on Trans Athletes and Minors' Surgery; Weiser Says Legislature Will Revisit Them

Colorado voters passed two ballot measures last Tuesday, Nov. 3, that restrict transgender-identifying minors and students. They did it in the same election that sent Democrats to historic wins.

Proposition 134 requires students in state-funded schools, from kindergarten through college, to play on teams matching their biological sex. The Associated Press projected it would pass with 52.3% yes and 47.7% no, with 93% of ballots counted at the time of the call.

Proposition 135 bars physicians from performing surgery on minors that conflicts with their biological sex. Decision Desk HQ projected it passing 51.92% to 48.08% with more than 95% of the vote counted. It also blocks insurance coverage and state or federal funding for such care for minors.

A third measure from the same campaign, Proposition 133, makes child sex trafficking punishable by life in prison without parole. It passed with roughly 62%.

A split ticket in a blue state

The same voters re-elected Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper with about 60%. They elected Democrat Phil Weiser governor by what the Colorado Sun called a historic margin. Democrats are on track for supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, though those counts were not final as of the latest reporting.

Erin Lee, co-founder and executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, which led the campaign, says that split is the point. "Colorado broke ranks where they voted for Democrats," she told Fox News Digital. "They also voted yes on these commonsense child protection measures."

Lee says she was a self-described left-leaning Democrat until her 12-year-old daughter was socially transitioned in a sixth-grade classroom more than five years ago. In 2023 she and other parents sued educators at the Poudre School District.

The campaign says more than 3,300 volunteers gathered the 500,000 signatures needed to qualify the measures. It also says it drew in a faith coalition of more than 500 churches.

Jen Sey, founder of XX-XY Athletics and issue chair for Prop 134, said Colorado is the first blue state, and the first state to act by direct vote, to follow 27 others in setting single-sex guidelines for female athletics.

Colorado was not alone

Similar sports measures passed elsewhere on Nov. 3. Washington, which Trump lost by 18 points in 2024, backed a youth-sports restriction. Breitbart's tally has it at 56.8% to 43.2%.

Arizona's Proposition 318 passed with about 58.9%, and Nebraska's constitutional amendment passed with about 67.8%, by the same tally.

Missouri went the other way. Voters in a state Trump carried by 18 points rejected a legislature-referred amendment that would have repealed the 2024 abortion protections. It would also have barred minors from gender-transition surgery, hormones and puberty blockers.

The Missouri legislature has already permanently blocked minors' access to surgery. It has also temporarily blocked new prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones until August 2027.

Alina Salganicoff, director of Women's Health Policy at KFF, said "each state also has its own culture." Missouri was the only state to combine abortion and trans issues in one question.

The opposition and what it says Prop 134 does

Planned Parenthood of Colorado, GLAAD, One Colorado, the Bread and Roses Legal Center and several Colorado medical groups opposed the measures. Z Williams, director of Bread and Roses, called Prop 134 "a very clear attack on trans girls."

One Colorado and Bread and Roses described the measure as "socially and politically cruel" to LGBTQ+ youth. Williams said, "Playing sports is an important and healthy part of growing up."

Opponents also raise a practical objection. Prop 134 defines girls and boys by reproductive organs and leaves enforcement to the state's education commissioner. The text does not say how a student's sex would be verified, or what happens if a parent or rival questions an athlete.

The measure does not mention genital checks, but opponents argue that is where it could lead. Before the vote, Colorado let trans students apply to play on teams matching their gender identity through a review by the Colorado High School Activities Association. A 2023 state law also protects access to gender-affirming care, including for minors.

Pew Research Center polling cited by the Daily Wire found more than 70% of Americans are uncomfortable with transgender athletes competing on teams that do not match their sex at birth. It found 66% favor requiring such athletes to compete on teams matching their physical sex.

Weiser signals changes

All of this was approved by statute, not constitutional amendment. A simple majority in the legislature can alter or repeal Props 132 through 135.

Weiser, currently the state attorney general, said in June that the legislature "is going to have to fix" the measures "and provide a much more human and sound approach." The day after winning, he told reporters, "We're going to have to take a look at these anti-trans measures and what adjustments are necessary and appropriate."

He said he does not think it is acceptable to subject every young athlete to a biological-sex check. He gave no specifics, saying it was too soon, and options range from full repeal to minor adjustments.

The next test is the legislative session. Democrats will have to decide whether to rewrite enforcement rules, or go further, against measures roughly 52% of voters just approved.

What Weiser's "adjustments" mean for Prop 135's surgery ban is the larger unanswered question. He has addressed 134 and 135 together without saying which provisions he would change.