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Should transgender students be barred from joining K-12 school or college sports teams that align with their gender identity?
That’s the question Colorado voters will answer when they vote on Proposition 134 on Nov. 3. If passed, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Currently, Colorado schools have varying policies on whether transgender students can play on sports teams that match their gender identity. Some allow it or make decisions on a case by case basis. Others, including a group of conservative-leaning districts and charter schools that unsuccessfully sued the state over the issue, don’t allow it.
If passed, Proposition 134 would create a statewide ban on the practice. Similar measures are on the ballot in Washington state, Arizona, and Nebraska, where the ban would be enshrined in the state constitution.
These measures mirror a controversial 2025 executive order issued by President Donald Trump. Several states and school districts have pushed back against the Trump administration’s position in court. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allows, but doesn’t require, states to ban transgender students from school sports teams that match their gender identity.
Here’s a closer look at Proposition 134.
What would schools and districts be required to do if Prop 134 passes?
Schools and colleges would have to create new policies implementing the ballot measure’s requirements. They would have to designate every athletic team as male, female, or coeducational. Biological male students could not join female teams. Biological female students could not join male teams, except if there is no female team in a given sport. Any student could join co-ed teams.
How will a student’s gender be determined?
The ballot measure doesn’t specify, so it would be up to schools to decide.
Opponents of the measure say it could subject students to invasive gender checks, particularly girls who are tall, strong, or athletically gifted.
The ballot measure says biological males have reproductive systems organized around the production of sperm cells, and biological females have reproductive systems organized around the production of egg cells.
Erin Lee, co-founder of Protect Kids Colorado, which is advocating for the measure, said students could get doctor notes stating their gender. Cheek swabs are another option, she said. The swabs are a form of DNA testing and show the presence of male or female gender markers. They can cost hundreds of dollars.
How many transgender students play school sports in Colorado?
No organization or state agency tracks this number. It’s generally thought to be an exceedingly small percentage of student athletes.
Which schools and sports teams would Prop 134 impact?
If passed, the measure would apply to sports teams offered through Colorado’s public or private schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It would also apply to sports teams at Colorado’s public or private colleges. It would not apply to youth sports teams offered through private clubs or leagues.
Who would enforce the measure?
The Colorado Department of Education would be responsible for enforcing Proposition 134 in public K-12 schools. The ballot measure includes no enforcement mechanism for colleges or universities or private K-12 schools.
Who opposes Prop 134?
Opponents include Families Not Politics, a coalition of dozens of LGBTQ, legal, and other groups. The coalition includes One Colorado, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Cobalt Advocates, Inside Out Youth Services, the Transgender Law Center, and Rocky Mountain Equality.
Nadine Bridges, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado, said the measure amounts to government overreach that would impede privacy and parent decision-making.
She also said Proposition 134 would hurt a small and vulnerable population of transgender students who just want to play sports with their friends.
Bridges said supporters of the measure are using transgender youth as a political talking point to rile up their conservative base: “That has nothing to do with protecting kids.”
Bridges said the ballot measure could also have unintended consequences.
The measure “is written so vaguely that there aren’t any boundaries, no parameters, no appeal process at all,” she said. “So any young person, transgender or not, will be impacted by this.”
Who supports it?
Supporters include Protect Kids Colorado, which is also pushing two other ballot measures: Proposition 133, which increases penalties for sex trafficking, and Proposition 135, which bars gender-affirming surgery for minors.
Lee said her group is not part of any national effort seeking to promote ballot measures on transgender student athletes. Rather, it’s a grassroots collection of a few thousand individuals who’ve taken an interest in the issue.
She said Proposition 134 will protect girls’ safety, opportunity, and dignity.
When transgender girls are allowed in girls sports, girls “lose their scholarships, their trophies, their podium spots, their records, their championships, their spot on the team,” said Lee. “There’s a real ripple effect that happens not just to the girls on that team, but on the opposing teams as well.”
Asked whether Proposition 134 could subject female athletes to uncomfortable scrutiny if they are perceived as too masculine, she said, “The great thing about this ballot measure is that it eliminates any skepticism. Everyone is subjected to the requirement to prove biological sex, and then no one has to guess or question or single anyone out.”
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
