Lawsuit filed over Kelly Loving Act
(COLORADO SPRINGS)– Multiple groups are suing the state of Colorado over the Kelly Loving Act only days after Governor Jared Polis made it a law.
The new law expands transgender protections in Colorado, with those behind the suit claiming it violates free speech and parental rights.
'What's at stake here is the protections for transgender Coloradans,' said Ollie Glessner, communications and advocacy director for Inside Out.
The Kelly Loving Act is named after a transgender woman who was killed in 2022 during the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs. Under the new law, intentionally misgendering or dead-naming someone is considered a discriminatory act.
'The bill should have never been written,' said Darcy Schoening, and member of Moms for Liberty.
The Kelly Loving Act has been a controversial discussion topic since it was proposed, and now it is heading to court after parent advocacy groups filed the lawsuit to make sure the law does not go into effect.
'Colorado now is passing these laws to make sure that we keep our protections in state no matter what, and not only that, but we also expand them to some of the things that are under attack right now,' said Glessner.
But some parents do not agree with how the new law will affect their children.
'My daughter doesn't have the ability to choose who she shares her safe spaces with,' said Schoening.
Kelly Loving Act aims to reinforce existing transgender rights
The act allows a person's chosen name to qualify as gender expression, which is protected under the Colorado anti-discrimination act. That means if a person intentionally misgenders or dead-names a transgender person, they are breaking state law.
'I dare you to come after me for telling the truth, for calling a man, a man,' said Schoening.
When Glessner first changed their name, they said it was hard on their parents to understand at first.
'When I changed my name, I know it was really difficult for my family because they had named me for a purpose, you know, and that purpose then seemed lost or changed for them,' they said.
The group Defending Education is behind the lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Colorado Parents Advocacy Network and Protect Kids Colorado groups, and they think the law could violate their first and 14th amendment rights.
'To compel somebody to refer to somebody as a gender that they're not and say that it's criminal if the person doesn't do it, is a really dangerous precedent,' said Schoening.
But Glessner said it is not compelled speech, instead it is respect: 'People will say that making them call someone by their chosen name or pronouns is compelled speech, and frankly, nothing else in our society operates that way.'
The new act would also impact schools, setting new requirements for dress codes and bathrooms for school districts to follow.
'When you take rights, and you say, my feelings are now more important than those of a child or a parent or a family member and law should be written for my feelings,' said Schoening.
'Your feelings are valid if you're grieving the loss of what you hoped for your child,' said Glessner.
State Attorney General Phil Wiser, who was named in the lawsuit, said he is not commenting at this time, and neither is Governor Jared Polis.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What the business world has to like (and not) in the Senate version of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
The business community has some clear wins in a Senate version of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" but it isn't getting everything it wants. The Senate's Finance Committee's 549-page blueprint contains significant changes, especially on taxes, Medicaid funding, and clean energy. One proposal was quickly embraced by the business community: a Senate-side push to make corporate tax deductions permanent around things like interest payments and new capital investments. But a less popular idea is the survival of the so-called revenge tax that would allow the government to levy new duties on foreign nations and their businesses. That idea was introduced in the House version and sparked fears of reduced foreign investment. The version released last Monday pares back the tax but doesn't eliminate it entirely, as corporate lobbyists had asked. Specific industries also have plenty at stake from Senate changes if they make it into law. Businesses that work in clean energy will have more time to adjust to the phase-out of Biden-era credits. Restaurants and gig economy companies have more limited tax breaks for tips and overtime. Healthcare providers will also have to adjust to even steeper cuts to Medicaid's provider tax structure — perhaps the most surprising and significant overall change in the Senate version. What the Senate version of the bill doesn't appear to have — as Elon Musk and others had pushed for — is a significant change in the final price tag. Both versions are expected to add trillions of dollars to the debt. The Senate version also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, compared with $4 trillion in the House version. The bill does have one clear cost-saving measure: slashing the annual deduction for individual state and local taxes (SALT) from $40,000 to $10,000. But that provision is described even in the bill's official summary as "the subject of continuing negotiations," with defenders of the deduction pledging to restore the full credit forthwith. The Senate version earned a quick flurry of Republican pledges — from fiscal hawks to defenders of those SALT deductions to those who object to the Medicaid cuts — to vote no if the final version isn't changed to their liking. "We're not seriously addressing our long-term deficit and debt," Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told reporters soon after the unveiling, reiterating that he remains a no. The back and forth comes just weeks ahead of Republicans' self-imposed deadline to get the bill to the president's desk by July 4. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said sticking to that timeline means Senate passage by the end of this coming week. Ed Mills of Raymond James offered in a note that "we continue to view the July 4 target as ambitious" — suggesting that SALT and Medicaid provisions in particular could be under continued debate in the days ahead. Here is a closer look at some of the major business world changes being proposed by the Senate: A key focus for business owners is a series of tax deductions that will reinstate credits for corporations around things like property depreciation, capital investments, new factory construction, interest expenses, and research and development costs. These provisions were present in the House version but only temporarily. Permanency was a key Senate priority once they took over, even as it is expected to increase the price tag. The bill "powers the economy by permanently extending critical pro-growth provisions and introduces new incentives for domestic investment, providing certainty for American job creators to spur domestic economic activity and invest in their workers," offered Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo as he unveiled these provisions. The Senate version also enhances credits for "opportunity zones," which provide tax relief in rural and distressed communities. The bill also includes Trump's campaign promises of no taxes on tips and overtime, but in a more limited form. Employees would be able to deduct up to $25,000 annually for tips and overtime, in contrast to the House's approach of 100% deductibility under certain income limits. The Senate blueprint also includes a rollback of clean energy credits for things like solar panels and electric vehicles. The changes in the Senate would make that phaseout slower — zeroing out some key credits by 2028 — but with a bottom line that Republicans across the spectrum are united in eliminating these benefits entirely. Amy Hanauer, executive director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, reacted to the released proposal by saying that "the emerging clean energy economy will be curtailed and for what?" "Our communities will be worse off as a result of this legislation,' she added. On the fossil fuel side, the Senate bill continues to include changes to make permitting less laborious, open up new lease sales, and reverse a fee on excess methane emissions. The Senate bill also includes a controversial plan to limit the ability of states to regulate artificial intelligence. The Senate's provisions are less airtight, stopping short of the outright ban proposed by the House, but are expected to remain a point of contention and potentially an issue for the Senate parliamentarian, given the Senate's complex reconciliation rules. Other changes in the bill appear to cut against business interests at least slightly. The Senate bill makes permanent the so-called pass-through deduction — formally called a 199A deduction for small businesses — but at the current rate of 20%. The House version also had permanency, but at a higher rate of 23%. Meanwhile, a clear focus of business lobbyist ire has remained in the bill, but in a slightly diminished form: the so-called revenge tax. This idea would allow a president to punish companies and countries if they adhere to foreign laws that policymakers find objectionable. In Trump's case, things like the digital services taxes that often hit tech companies overseas. The Senate version, in a nod to the flurry of concerns, set a maximum rate of 15% and delayed implementation until 2027 but kept the concept intact. In addition to that tax, the SALT and Medicaid changes are likely to be most in focus in the days and weeks ahead. Tobin Marcus of Wolfe Research noted Tuesday morning that "SALT changes underscore the reality that this is another step forward in negotiations, not the final answer." He added that "we still view late July as the real deadline." This story has been updated. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
21 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Hegseth and Gen. Caine Detail Air Strikes Against Iran
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, detail the strike against three Iranian nuclear facilities. Dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer," it involved B-2 bombers, a submarine that launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and bunker-buster bombs. Hegseth says the mission was not about a regime change in Iran. They speak at the Pentagon. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pentagon officials reveal new details about U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites
Senior Pentagon officials on Sunday morning shared new details about the U.S. military operation to strike Iran's three key nuclear sites, calling it the "largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history." Watch the full briefing.
