Capitol protest highlights divisions on transgender care for Colorado kids as advocates and opponents clash
Saturday at Colorado's state capitol, the ideological lines on the issue of transgender rights for children had been drawn, both metaphorically and literally.
On the bottom of the steps was a small crowd advocating for trans rights.
"Jesus always stood with the outcasts, always stood with the marginalized," said Rev. Ruth Rinehart, a reverend at unitarian churches in Colorado and California. "Jesus is standing here right with us today in support of trans people to live their lives, to live their true authentic selves and for kids to be protected from these religious right-wingers."
On the top of the steps were those who want the state to restrict gender-affirming care access to adults only.
"These children can't consent. They live with lifelong complications and regret for some of these decisions they made at 12 years old," said Sasha Michell, the executive director of Gays Against Groomers.
Gays Against Groomers held a rally on the steps which attracted the counter-protestors. The group's members say they aren't anti-trans, but they think decisions about gender-affirming care should be made when people are adults.
"We have trans members in our organization that know what it's like, and don't think that it's appropriate for children," Michell said.
But their opponents say they are a hate group who just want to control people.
"And it's control over our bodies. Gender expansiveness scares them at such a deep level," said Rinehart.
We asked Children's Hospital Colorado, the experts on children's health to weigh in on this issue and they said in a statement:
"Children's Hospital Colorado takes a holistic approach to ensure a patient's mental and physical needs surrounding their gender identity and expression are met. We remain committed to embracing all patients for who they are and providing high-quality care for gender-diverse pediatric and adolescent patients.
Last year, Children's Colorado made the difficult decision to no longer perform gender-affirming surgeries for adult patients. Children's Hospital Colorado has never provided gender-affirming surgeries for pediatric patients.
We understand this decision was disappointing for the adult patients who were scheduled for these procedures. We worked quickly and diligently with these patients and their families to connect them to trusted hospitals with robust adult care offerings that can help these patients achieve their goals. There are many well-regarded hospitals in the region with which we have strong partnerships and where adult patients can receive top-tier, gender-affirming surgical care.
Children's Colorado is the only free-standing hospital in Colorado for kids. With the closure of gender-affirming pediatric programs in many states, we have been receiving unprecedented referrals for gender-affirming care. In order to continue delivering expert, multidisciplinary care to our pediatric patients and their families, we are focusing on behavioral, emotional and medical care for children, which is our primary patient population and area of expertise as a pediatric hospital."
So while nothing was settled on Saturday, at least everyone got to exercise their First Amendment rights.
"We affirm and love trans people, their courage to live their lives as they are, their courage to stand up against this kid of hate for them," said Rinehart.
"Leave our kids alone," said Rich Guggenheim, the chapter co-leader for Colorado's chapter of Gays Against Groomers. "And the more the LGBTQIA+ inclusive community pushes this on children, the more blowback we as gays and lesbians receive."