Colorado voters will have the opportunity this November to decide whether to ban the surgical and chemical mutilation of minors under the guise of “gender-affirming care.” A proposed ballot measure, backed by the grassroots group Save Our Kids, would prohibit doctors from performing sex-change surgeries, prescribing puberty blockers, or administering cross-sex hormones to anyone under the age of 18.
The initiative defines these procedures as experimental and irreversible, and they protect vulnerable children from lifelong harm. The measure comes after years of growing concern over the rapid rise in youth identifying as transgender and the aggressive push by gender clinics to medicalize confused children. Multiple European countries, including Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, have already sharply restricted these interventions for minors after independent reviews found the evidence for their benefits to be weak and the risks severe.
Colorado has become a destination for families seeking gender transition procedures due to its permissive laws. The ballot initiative seeks to close this loophole and restore common-sense protections for children. Proponents emphasize that no child is born in the wrong body and that rushing minors into life-altering treatments often ignores underlying mental health issues, trauma, or social influences.
The measure also aims to strengthen parental rights and prevent schools and medical providers from bypassing families in decisions about a child’s gender identity. If passed, Colorado would join more than two dozen other states that have enacted similar protections. The vote in November will serve as a critical test of whether the state will continue down the path of radical gender ideology or choose to safeguard the innocence and long-term well-being of its children.