Polis signs Colorado bills on conversion therapy, transgender birth certificates

By: Marianne Goodland May 31, 2019 Updated 18 hrs ago

Gov. Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor, gave a rousing pre-launch Friday to his first LGBT Pride Month by signing into law two measures designed to improve life for many Coloradans.

House Bill 1039 allows transgender people to obtain new birth certificates instead of amended ones, without having to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

House Bill 1129 bans licensed medical professionals from providing conversion therapy to minors.

HB 1039 will be known as Jude’s Law, after the now 13-year-old transgender girl who testified for the measure since age 9.

Jude, joined by her sister and parents, said she’s glad the bill finally has been passed and signed.

“I knew that I could be helping so many people just by showing up and telling my own story,” she said.

Testifying at the Capitol takes “a lot of confidence,” especially for a young person, she said, but she’s had strong support from her family and many others. Her parents asked that her last name not be published.

“Today’s an exciting day for an inclusive Colorado,” Polis said before signing the bills on the Capitol’s west steps. Accompanied by first gentleman Marlon Reis, Polis noted that it’s been 27 years since Coloradans voted in favor of Amendment 2, which allowed discrimination based on sexual orientation. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law in 1996.

Colorado since has undergone a “remarkable transformation” into a state that values the contributions of every resident, he added. “We are stronger together; we accept and celebrate our diversity.”

Under HB 1039, the state registrar in the Department of Public Health and Environment can issue a new birth certificate without the previously required court order or gender reassignment surgery, and those who received an amended certificate can seek a new one.

Surgery isn’t always an option, supporters say, because of medical conditions, cost or because the person is a minor.

For minors, such as Jude, a medical professional must sign an affidavit that the minor is undergoing a gender transition with the doctor’s approval.

The new law also will end the practice of publishing the name change in a newspaper when it’s due to a change in gender identity. Supporters say such publication poses a risk to those people.

Until the new law takes effect Jan. 1, changing the birth certificate still will require a court order.

The changes in Colorado law come as the Trump administration is banning transgender people from serving in the military, proposing a rule this week to allow health care providers to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.

The administration also issued a memo that would erase federal recognition of transgender people.

Another proposed rule, also issued in the past week, would remove protections for transgender people at homeless shelters.

But in Colorado, Polis also signed HB 1129, banning licensed physicians and mental health professionals from providing conversion therapy to those under age 18. Parts of the law take effect Aug. 2, and it’s in full effect Oct. 1.

Polis told people at the rally that there’s no proof a person can change their sexual orientation, and conversion therapy ais “tortuous practice” that leads to lifelong depression and even suicide. Colorado is now among 15 states that ban conversion therapy.

Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City, said she could hardly hold back the tears while listening to the stories of young people, some of them sobbing.

“These are our children, and when we cannot respect our children, none of our children can thrive,” she said. “The practice of conversion therapy says to children, ‘I do not believe you. I don’t respect you and do not accept you as you are.’ That ends now.”

Polis and lawmakers also paid homage to One Colorado, the LGBT advocacy organization that championed both measures for years, and to former lawmakers who carried the earlier bills, including former state Rep. Paul Rosenthal, D-Denver, who attended Friday’s ceremony, and former state Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Commerce City.

Religious conservatives opposed both measures. The conversion-therapy ban drew negative testimony from Focus on the Family and Colorado Christian University representatives.

On Feb. 20, before the House gave initial approval of the bill, Rep. Stephen Humphrey, R-Ault, said it would ban free speech.

“There’s a lot of issues that aren’t scientifically settled,” he said without clarifying. The marriage counselor also said lawmakers were “asserting their version of the truth about the issue based on political and religious values and not necessarily on factual findings.”

Conversion therapy has been discredited by every major national psychology and psychiatry association going back as far as 1998.

On March 25, ahead of Senate passage, Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, said: “I’m worried and concerned that we’re going too far” in forcing people to cancel services that patients might want. We have associations that control this in a much better way then we in the legislature.”

Both bills passed nonetheless, with some Republican support. GOP Reps. Hugh McKean of Loveland and Colin Larson of Littleton voted in favor of both, as did Republican Sens. Don Coram of Montrose and Kevin Priola of Henderson.

On House Bill 1039, they were joined by Republican Sens. Bob Rankin of Carbondale and Jim Smallwood of Parker.