Legislative Scorecard How Do Your State Legislators Score When It Comes to Guaranteeing a Fair and Just State for Lgbtq Coloradans and Their Families?

LGBTQ EQUALITY 2019 LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD HOW DO YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS SCORE WHEN IT COMES TO GUARANTEEING A FAIR AND JUST STATE FOR LGBTQ COLORADANS AND THEIR FAMILIES? ONE COLORADO’S LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD highlights the priorities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans and their families in the 2019 legislative session. In this scorecard, you will find accurate, nonpartisan information on bills related to LGBTQ equality and how each member of the legislature voted on issues that affect Colorado’s LGBTQ community. USE THIS SCORECARD to find out if your elected officials’ votes align with your values of advancing equality for LGBTQ Coloradans. For more information, you can visit WWW.ONE-COLORADO.ORG. During the 2019 legislative session, we saw a number of victories for LGBTQ Coloradans and their families that were the product of successful, bipartisan cooperation, including the passage of a ban on conversion therapy and Jude’s Law. We also saw attempts to roll back protections for LGBTQ Coloradans in the form of religious exemptions proposals, which were fortunately defeated in the Colorado Legislature. WERE YOUR LEGISLATORS CHAMPIONS FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY THIS YEAR? Call or email them to thank them. Alternatively, if you aren’t satisfied with how your representatives and senators voted on this year’s scorecard, you can call, email, send a letter, or attend their town hall meetings to let them know how you feel. Between now and the end of the year, One Colorado will be making sure voters across the state know how their legislators voted on LGBTQ equality. If you want to help us hold our elected officials accountable, sign up to volunteer with us at HTTPS://ONE-COLORADO.ORG/VOLUNTEER- OPPORTUNITIES-DENVER-COLORADO. NEED TO FIND OUT WHO YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS ARE? Visit WWW.LEG.COLORADO.GOV/FINDMYLEGISLATOR. WWW.LEG.COLORADO.GOV/FINDMYLEGISLATOR LGBTQ Equality 2019 Legislative Scorecard 2 WITH THE HELP OF OUR MEMBERS IN 2019, ONE COLORADO: Sent 5,794 letters to legislators Held 187 in-person legislator meetings Made 1,152 calls into legislators offices Generated 142 news stories, on TV, radio, and in newspapers statewide, nationally, and internationally on our priority legislation Brought 73 people to the capitol to testify LGBTQ Equality 2019 Legislative Scorecard 3 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND ADVOCACY– PROTECTING ADVANCEMENTS Over the past five years, there have been numerous efforts across the country to pass religious exemption laws that would allow individuals to claim their religion gives them permission to pick and choose which laws to follow. Religious freedom is important, which is why the First Amendment to our Constitution already protects it, but that freedom does not give anyone the right to harm others, or to discriminate. This year, we saw three attempts to roll back protections for LGBTQ Coloradans in the form of broad religious exemption measures or attempts to weaken our state’s nondiscrimination protections. HOUSE BILL 1140 LIVE & LET LIVE ACT Whether in the areas of adoption and foster care, health care, housing, marriage, employment, or public spaces, HB1140 was designed to roll back non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Coloradans and their families in nearly every facet of their lives. This bill would have allowed businesses and individuals to claim that their religion gives them permission to exempt themselves from laws they don’t want to follow. Bill Sponsors: Representative Stephen Humphrey, Senator Vicki Marble House Committee Vote: Failed on a vote of 3-6 in House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee. HOUSE BILL 1081: RESPONDENT RIGHTS DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS Known as the ‘Justice for Jack Act’, named after Jack Phillips, the cakeshop owner who denied service to a gay couple, was a direct response to the Supreme Court of the United States very narrow ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. If this bill had passed, the state of Colorado would have had to use taxpayer dollars to reimburse Jack Phillips for business income lost because he chose to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Bill Sponsors: Representative Dave Williams House Committee Vote: Failed on a vote of 3-5 in House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee. H O US E B I LL 1111: TRAINING REQUIREMENT FOR THE COLORADO CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION This bill was a direct response to the Supreme Court of the United States very narrow ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. By trying to undermine the authority of the Colorado Civil Rights Division, this was a veiled attempt to weaken Colorado’s nondiscrimination protections in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodations. Bill Sponsors: Representative Mark Baisley House Committee Vote: Failed on a vote of 3-5 in House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee. LGBTQ Equality 2019 Legislative Scorecard 4 TRANSGENDER EQUALITY Understanding what it’s like to be transgender can be hard, especially if you have never met a transgender person, but every transgender person deserves to be treated fairly and with respect. Most states offer no legal protections in housing, employment, public spaces, or health care for individuals who experience discrimination based on their gender identity or expression. Thankfully, Colorado law protects transgender people from discrimination in these areas, but still made it burdensome for transgender Coloradans to obtain identity documents that match who they are. HOUSE BILL 1039 JUDE’S LAW – IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FOR TRANSGENDER PERSONS Jude’s Law will cut through the red tape for transgender and non-binary Coloradans trying to update their gender, allowing them to have the identification documents that match who they are. Coloradans will be able to update the gender on their birth certificate to M, F, or X — without a surgery, doctor’s note, or court order. This bill removes the surgery requirement, court order requirement, and a doctor’s note, allowing transgender people the ability to self-identify on their ID documents. The bill removes the publication requirement for a name change in order to reflect one’s gender identity. A new birth certificate will be issued instead of an amended birth certificate when updating gender. This law goes into effect on January 1st, 2020. Colorado is the third state in the country (including California and Oregon) to have non-binary gender options for both driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Bill Sponsors: Representative Daneya Esgar, Senator Dominick Moreno House Vote: Passed on a bipartisan 42-22-1 vote. Senate Vote: Passed on a bipartisan 23-12 vote. “ Signed by Governor Jared Polis on May 31, 2019. “ I am so proud that after years of trying, Jude’s Law was finally signed by the Governor today. The State of Colorado should honor individuals and their identities. With this law, transgender Coloradans will finally have government documents that accurately reflect who they are.” —Senator Dominick Moreno, May 31st, 2019 “ Jude has testified at the capitol in support of this legislation for years now. We have watched her grow up in front of our eyes. She has been simply asking this legislature to give her the ability to live her “most genuine life.” —Representative Daneya Esgar, May 31st, 2019 LGBTQ Equality 2019 Legislative Scorecard 5 LGBTQ HEALTH While lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans face many of the same health care challenges as the general population, they also encounter unique obstacles to fulfilling their specific health needs. Affordability, access, and quality issues confront LGBTQ Coloradans as a whole, and transgender people are often the most vulnerable. An equitable health care system in Colorado can be achieved, but only if disparities are clearly identified and action is taken to eliminate them. During this legislative session, bills were introduced to protect LGBTQ young people by ensuring they have access to affirming mental health care. HOUSE BILL 1129 BAN ON CONVERSION THERAPY Conversion therapy – sometimes referred to as “reparative therapy,” “ex-gay therapy,” or “sexual orientation change efforts” – includes a range of dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. These harmful practices are based on the false claim that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer is a mental illness that should be cured. Unfortunately, many young people are coerced and subjected to these harmful practices, which put them at risk for depression, substance abuse, and suicide. HB1129 will prohibit a state-licensed mental health care provider from engaging in the discredited, harmful practice of conversion therapy on a patient under eighteen years of age in order to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. A physician or mental health care provider who violates this provision engages in unprofessional conduct under the applicable professional licensing board. This law goes into effect on August 2, 2019. Colorado is the 18th state in the country to ban conversion therapy for minors. Bill Sponsors: Representatives Dafna Michaelson Jenet and Daneya Esgar, Senator Steve Fenberg House Vote: Passed on a bipartisan 43-21-1 vote. “ Senate Vote: Passed on a bipartisan 21-13-1 vote. Signed by Governor Jared Polis on May 31, 2019. “ Being gay is not a mental illness and it does not need to be fixed. After sponsoring this bill for the past three years, I’m proud this will be the year we put an end to this harmful and deceptive practice.”—Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg, May 31st, 2019 “ This is the second year I have been the prime sponsor of this bill. The defeat year after year has puzzled and pained me. This year’s passage is so sweet because the people stood up together and said we will not stand for the abuse and discrimination against our children any longer. All children are our children, and the fight for their love and acceptance had a huge win today.” “—Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet, May 31st, 2019 LGBTQ Equality 2019 Legislative Scorecard 6 LGBTQ YOUTH AND SCHOOLS Our LGBTQ youth are one of our communities most vulnerable populations.

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