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Colorado voters will decide on a ballot measure today that would bar transgender students from joining school sports teams that match their gender identity.
Proposition 134 would apply to public and private K-12 schools and colleges in Colorado and take effect Jan. 1. It wouldn’t apply to youth sports teams offered through private clubs or leagues.
If passed, the measure would be a win for conservative-leaning groups that have pushed such measures to the top of their political agenda even though the share of transgender student athletes in school sports is exceedingly small. The group Protect Kids Colorado has advocated for the measure along with two other ballot issues: Proposition 133, which increases penalties for sex trafficking, and Proposition 135, which bars gender-affirming surgery for minors.
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 this year in Washington state, Arizona, and Nebraska.
Proposition 134 would require schools and colleges to create new policies implementing the ballot measure’s requirements. They would have to designate every athletic team as male, female, or co-ed. 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.
The ballot measure doesn’t specify how student athletes would prove their gender, but backers have suggested a doctor’s note or cheek swab DNA testing would be acceptable methods.
Opponents of Prop 134 say it targets a small and vulnerable population, subjects students to invasive gender checks, and represents government overreach. Proponents argue it would protect girls’ safety and opportunity.
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, universities, or private K-12 schools.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
