> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.lookoutnews.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # They Trusted Their Fellow Coloradans to Protect their Children. It Didn’t Happen. - URL: https://www.lookoutnews.org/they-trusted-their-fellow-coloradans-to-protect-their-children-it-didnt-happen/ - Published: 2026-11-06T17:09:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-06T17:27:42.000Z - Description: Three families of trans kids share feelings of anger and confusion after ‘blue tsunami,’ support for anti-trans ballot measures - Author: Alec Berg (he/him) - Tags: ELECTIONS, POLITICS, #donate_box_1 Bella Boe thought her family could finally exhale when they arrived in Colorado in 2023 after years of “living a nightmare,” trying to help their transgender daughter in Texas. Boe’s daughter was 12 years old when her medical records at Texas Children’s Hospital [were leaked to Christopher Rufo](https://abc13.com/post/medical-records-texas-childrens-hospital-houston-trans-children-care/15029119/?ref=lookoutnews.org), a right-wing activist. Soon after the leak, her family began receiving death threats and garnered national attention from [other right-wing activists like Elon Musk](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1659056948866609152?ref=lookoutnews.org). “It is a horrifying experience to wake up and see your kid’s name and private information in right-wing news and see that Elon Musk is tweeting about you,” Boe told *LOOKOUT*. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/0d/4c0d7266-d8e0-4201-8dfb-f7b14779cdc4/content/images/2025/02/MEMBER-AD--1000-x-143-px-.png)](https://lookoutphx.ac-page.com/membership?ref=lookoutnews.org) Weeks later, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott [signed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors in the state.](https://19thnews.org/2024/06/texas-gender-affirming-care-trans/?ref=lookoutnews.org) The next day, Boe’s family packed their bags and relocated to Denver. Physicians at Colorado Children’s Hospital prescribed gender-affirming hormone-replacement therapy to Boe’s daughter from May 2023 to January 2026, when the hospital stopped providing gender-affirming care to minors due to [pressure from the Trump administration.](https://coloradonewsline.com/2026/09/23/childrens-hospital-complied-gender-affirming-care/?ref=lookoutnews.org) Boe, whose name is a pseudonym in a lawsuit against[ Children’s Hospital Colorado,](https://law.justia.com/cases/colorado/supreme-court/2026/26sa66.html?ref=lookoutnews.org) is arguing the hospital caused “real, immediate, and irreparable injury” to trans children who lost access to care. As she watched election results Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, Boe felt a similar knot in her stomach: transgender youth, as she saw it, were once again being treated as political punching bags. “The fact that this is a part of our civil discourse is incredibly dehumanizing, and I wish folks would realize that trans people are humans and they deserve the same rights to bodily autonomy as everyone else,” Boe said in a Wednesday interview. Both Colorado propositions 134 and 135 passed by more than 50% of the vote. Proposition 134 will require student athletes to participate in school sports that match their biological sex, rather than gender identity. The proposition requires schools to separate student athletes into three categories: males/men/boys, females/women/girls or co-educational. # Want to Share Insider Information? ## Help keep power accountable. LOOKOUT relies on tips from readers to get our news out. Click on the button below to submit a secure email to our team. 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[Email a Tip ](mailto:editor@lookoutnews.org) The state Commissioner of Education would be required to identify non-compliant schools and “take corrective action.” The measure does not outline how such a policy would be enforced, though its backers have suggested [cheek swabs or birth certificate checks.](https://www.cpr.org/2026/09/25/vg-2026-prop-134-trans-students-sports/?ref=lookoutnews.org) The Colorado High School Activities Association and the Colorado Department of Education do not track the number of transgender athletes who play sports, so the number is difficult to know, but Proposition 134’s opponents have suggested the number is miniscule — [likely in the single digits](https://coloradonewsline.com/2026/09/22/colorado-ballot-measure-ban-trans-athletes/?ref=lookoutnews.org); Nationwide, [The Advocate ](https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/anti-trans-sports-spending?ref=lookoutnews.org)tracked an existing34 trans athletes in K-12 schools across the United States using publicly available records. The [NCAA reports](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/impact-trans-sports-ban-eo/?ref=lookoutnews.org) that fewer than 10 trans athletes play sports at a collegiate level. Proposition 135 would ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors, though there are currently [no physicians in Colorado who perform such surgeries](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820437?ref=lookoutnews.org). Physicians in Colorado do perform some gender-affirming surgeries on cisgender minors, such as young boys with gynecomastia — an overdevelopment of breast tissue. Boe’s lawsuit alleges this practice is a “double standard favoring cisgender children.” [How Colorado Helped Build the Anti-LGBTQ+ PlaybookIn 1992, Colorado became known as the “Hate State” after voters approved an amendment targeting LGBTQ+ rights, setting the stage for a political playbook that continues to shape the fight for equality today.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/0d/4c0d7266-d8e0-4201-8dfb-f7b14779cdc4/content/images/icon/lookout-favicon@4x-c29149b4-c6e5-42f9-8553-014686664c0d.png)LOOKOUTAnn Marie Awad (they/them)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/0d/4c0d7266-d8e0-4201-8dfb-f7b14779cdc4/content/images/thumbnail/READ-YOUR-TEA.--1--9c81a0ca-5534-4f6a-ba7d-b892d974fbaf.png)](https://www.lookoutnews.org/how-colorado-helped-build-the-anti-lgbtq-playbook/) “It feels like a huge betrayal from folks in our state who we thought aligned with our values,” Boe said. She added that the measures were written “in a way that was confusing and may have misled people to believe that they were protecting children, but what they’re really doing is eroding freedom and taking away the right for families to choose what kinds of health care are appropriate.” Lindsey Lee felt similarly to Boe as she watched vote counts continue to climb higher in support of the propositions. Lee has a 17-year-old transgender child. Her family moved to Colorado Springs in 2021 for her husband’s military service, but felt lucky when their child came out as trans to know they had access to resources in an affirming state. After their child came out at 12 years old, the family was soon able to access therapy — the standard of care as a first step — then get puberty blockers and testosterone prescribed by Children’s Hospital Colorado. > “Folks thought that they were protecting kids, and they didn’t realize that some of the messaging alone was endangering to trans kids." > —Z Williams, co-executive director of Bread and Roses Legal Center In January, when the hospital halted their care, Lee was able to pay out of pocket to a private provider, which she considers a “huge privilege.” Still, Lee is testifying to the Colorado Springs District 49 Board of Education on what feels like at least a monthly basis [for its anti-trans policies.](https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2025/05/13/district-49-sues-state-over-transgender-student-athlete-protections/?ref=lookoutnews.org) And although their medical care hasn’t been impacted, the policies from the school board and rhetoric surrounding the propositions has exhausted Lee’s child. “Watching them get to live in a body that feels aligned with their identity has been all you could hope for as a parent,” Lee said. “And it saddens me to see that other parents would try to take that away.” Lee and a group of other LGBTQ+-affirming parents, through a group called [Neighbors for Education,](https://www.facebook.com/neighborsfored/) have fought anti-trans policies in Colorado Springs school districts for years now, and hoped they could defeat similar policies at the state level. “I’ve always just felt like this is a problem I can’t unsee, and if I have the power to do something, I have to do it,” Lee said. “This feels really incongruent with our values and the things that make Colorado so great.” Both Lee and Boe plan to stay in Colorado. They still see the state as much safer than any of its neighbors, and they believe progress takes time. “This is really disappointing and I expected better from my fellow Coloradans,” Boe said. “But we won't give up.” Trans parents raising trans kids said the issue hurts on multiple levels. There’s the practical questions: what if my kid wants to play a gender-segregated sport, and what does this law mean for future access to care? Then there’s the question of what hearing constant anti-trans rhetoric does to a young trans person. As they knocked doors and made phone calls trying to convince voters to vote against the propositions, Z Williams, a trans person and parent of a transgender elementary school-aged child, said they witnessed “more flagrant transphobia than I’d seen in years.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/0d/4c0d7266-d8e0-4201-8dfb-f7b14779cdc4/content/images/2026/11/MayaZ.jpg) Maya Blasingame, left, and Z Williams, right, lead protests in support of trans rights at the Colorado State Capitol in June 2025\. (Photo by Alec Berg/LOOKOUT) Williams is also an outspoken advocate and co-executive director of the [Bread and Roses Legal Center.](https://www.breadandroseslaw.org/?ref=lookoutnews.org) “Folks thought that they were protecting kids, and they didn’t realize that some of the messaging alone was endangering to trans kids,” said Williams. Williams’ kid plays roller derby, a[ famously gender-inclusive sport.](https://resources.wftda.org/membership/diversity-and-inclusion/?ref=lookoutnews.org) But Williams worries at the thought of their child ever wanting to take up a sport like basketball or soccer. “If we want to talk about fairness, trans kids are such a small number of athletes, and all students have different kinds of athletic abilities,” Williams said. Though the previous several months have been incredibly difficult for Williams, they’ve been able to build community with other parents of trans kids, united around the idea that trans people are “special and beautiful.” “One of the things that makes us so controversial is that we present an idea that things can grow and change and people have a possibility of evolution and that’s scary to people,” Williams said. “Trans people have done so many amazing things with absolutely nothing, and we will continue to do amazing things.” #### Update **The Associated Press called Proposition 135's win at 9:24 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2026\. This story now reflects that win.* [The Man Behind the Anti-Trans Ballot MachineTim Mooney has spent years turning contentious political fights into ballot questions. Now, his operation is targeting transgender rights in the southwest.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/0d/4c0d7266-d8e0-4201-8dfb-f7b14779cdc4/content/images/icon/lookout-favicon@4x-a5ddaf3f-27f2-4204-8b9f-88687eb7510e.png)LOOKOUTLorenzo Gomez (he/him)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/0d/4c0d7266-d8e0-4201-8dfb-f7b14779cdc4/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_2058-b800e849-4169-40ad-89ea-764900327481.jpg)](https://www.lookoutnews.org/tim-mooney-ballot-initiatives-in-arizona-and-colorado-for-2026/) ## Before you go... At **LOOKOUT**, we believe in the power of community-supported journalism. You're at the heart of that community, and your support helps us deliver the news and information the LGBTQ+ community needs to thrive. ### Two ways to support LOOKOUT: [Become a Member Get exclusive benefits. ](https://www.lookoutnews.org/?form=donate) [Make a Donation Make an immediate impact. ](https://www.lookoutnews.org/?form=one-time)