Colorado Dems Attack Religious Freedom

A proposed bill in the Colorado House of Representatives entitled “Gender Identity Expression Anti-discrimination” would make it a civil rights violation for a church, private employer, or private medical practice to make decisions based on traditional religious convictions.

The bill, sponsored by Pueblo Democrat Representative Daneya Esgar and Adams County Democrat Senator Dominick Moreno legally redefines gender-based discrimination to include so-called “gender expression” and “gender identity.” From the bill’s summary:

The bill amends the definition of “sexual orientation” and adds definitions of the terms “gender expression” and “gender identity”. The bill also adds the terms “gender expression” and “gender identity” to statutes prohibiting discrimination against members of a protected class, including statutes prohibiting discriminatory practices in the following areas:

Employment practices;

Selection of patients by direct primary health care providers;

The provision of funeral services and crematory services;

Enrollment or classification of students at private occupational schools;

The availability of family planning services;

The treatment of and access to services by individuals in facilities providing substance use disorder treatment programs;

The above list is a sample from the bill of areas that specifically impact religious convictions. If this legislation passes, a church would not be able to deny employment to a man claiming to be a woman on the basis of its religious convictions. A doctor would not be able to deny hormone therapy or mutilative surgery to a gender-confused patient without being guilty of legal discrimination. A funeral home (many of which are religious in nature) would be forced to offer services that go against its religious beliefs.

Religious Americans are increasingly under attack for the apparently radical belief that men are not women and women are not men, and Colorado Democrat legislators are now joining the fight to force Americans to adhere to a radical and unscientific redefinition of basic human biology.