March 27, 2017 04:37 PM UTC

Senate Republicans Kill Transgender Birth Certificate Bill--Again

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• by: Colorado Pols

A press release from One Colorado, the state’s principal LGBT advocacy organization, condemns the Colorado Senate GOP majority for killing off a bill to make it easier for transgender citizens to change their birth certificates to reflect their identity–for the third straight year in a row:

Today, the Colorado Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee voted to defeat, House Bill 1122, the Birth Certificate Modernization Act — a bill that would bring Colorado law in line with federal policy for transgender Coloradans who want to update the gender on their birth certificate — for the third year in a row. One Colorado released the following statement from Executive Director Daniel Ramos on the defeat of this bill on a party-line vote.

“Today, the Republicans on the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee of the Colorado Senate had the chance to, yet again, do the right thing for transgender Coloradans. The Birth Certificate Modernization Act would have greatly impacted transgender Coloradans’ lives in making the process less burdensome to update the gender on their birth certificate. For the third year in a row, legislators have chosen politics over people’s lives.

“Again, we heard from numerous transgender Coloradans, their families, and experts demonstrating that this bill would not only make their lives easier, but would also save lives. Removing this specific barrier would have significantly reduced the stress and trauma a person goes through in the process of updating their gender. As well as it would reduce long-term mental health outcomes — such as depression, anxiety, and even suicidality.

“This much-needed legislation would simply have brought Colorado law in line with existing policies at the federal level, and in doing so would have protected the privacy of transgender Coloradans and protected them from discrimination.

“This is the second pro-LGBTQ legislation that has been introduced and killed in the Senate within a week and it’s clear members of Senate Leadership do not have the freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans in mind. We want to thank Senator Dominick Moreno and Representative Daneya Esgar for sponsoring House Bill 1122, and State Senators Stephen Fenberg and Lois Court for their votes today in support of transgender Coloradans and their families.”

The perennial battle over this legislation has become a major flashpoint between conservative Republicans in Colorado versus LGBT advocates and allies. There’s no good reason to oppose making it a more straightforward process to update one’s birth certificate to match gender identity–various “concerns” about identity theft and other imagined problems have been shown to be unfounded. Which doesn’t stop opponents from recycling them year after year, a thin veneer over unvarnished ugliness:

Again, insulting & hate-filled testimony against #HB1122. Saying transgender people are sexual predators, ID thieves, etc #coleg #copolitics

— One Colorado (@One_Colorado) March 27, 2017

When best testimony you have is the person who talks about anuses and a scourge of intersex fish in Boulder, I think our case is made #coleg

— Pinky (@pinklaura) March 27, 2017

If it seems to you like this was an embarrassing moment for Colorado Senate Republicans, that’s because it was. The arguments against allowing transgender people to update their birth certificates don’t stand up to scrutiny–leaving opponents with little to work with other than deeply offensive tropes about transgender people, a fact that becomes painfully obvious during the course of these hearings. In the end, the only reason to oppose this legislation is if you just don’t like transgender people–and don’t want to make their lives any easier.

There’s a word that describes this kind of person. And after three years, it’s time to use it.