DENVER — Denver City Council voted 11-0 on Monday night to move forward an ordinance that would reduce what sponsors are calling unnecessary gender documentation and record keeping is making it’s way through Denver City Council.
“This ordinance is not the finish line, it is one step in our responsibility to build a city where every person can live freely, safely and with dignity,” Councilwoman Shontel Lewis said Monday evening. She is sponsoring the bill alongside Councilmember Stacie Gilmore.
“This ordinance is for the first time in the city and county of Denver going to ensure that there is a deeper conversation about what we are asking folks who come to us for help or need advisement from the community,” Gilmore said ahead of the discussion on the ordinance.
During a previous presentation about the Sex & Gender Identity Protection Ordinance, Gilmore said the goal of the bill is to "prevent city resources from being weaponized against trans and gender-expansive people, and prohibit the city and county from sharing information that would advance investigations which target trans and gender-expansive people”.
The ordinance applies to voluntary collection and disclosure of an individual's actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression data. If that data must be collected, the information could only be retained for 30 days.
Collection of such data that is required by federal, state or city law would be exempt from such requirements.
During Monday night’s public comment period, members of the community shared their thoughts on the bill, mostly in favor of it.
“This ordinance takes a meaningful step towards protecting transgender and gender diverse people from having deeply personal information used against them while protecting something that matter to everyone, the expectation that private information remains private,” said one advocate of the bill.
Others also sharing their own personal reasons behind supporting the piece of legislation.
One person said, “I am a father of a wonderful daughter who is trans".
“If that information gets slipped out inappropriately, not only could that ruin her life, that could ruin the lives of anyone else that that would happen to,” he added.
Another parent added, “the amount of fear that a parent has for a kid who is trans is pretty intense, and having this ordinance would give parents huge relief”.
One of the two opponents that spoke against the measure Monday evening, called the bill, “complete gaslighting and an insult to our intelligence that you want to pass off this deception as something that’s progressive and something that’s beneficial.”
“Black people have been targeted in this country since its inception. I don't hear nobody saying anything about protections for Black people,” they added.
A virtual commenter against the bill stated that they believe in dignity and protection from government abuse, including the LGBTQIA community but that it “must apply equally."
“If the principle is that sensitive personal information should not be weaponized, make that principle universal,” they said.
After the public comment period, Councilman Darrell Watson thanked those who spoke up saying, “Thank you for making it clear to the wider community what's at risk."
He added, “As a Black queer man, I feel no difference or no reduction of the protections the city and County of Denver has for me and my family and my husband and I by extending and ensuring that your families are also protected, your fear is real."
Councilman Chris Hinds acknowledging that “hateful” and “unsafe” things were said during the meeting and added, “even the comments here on the record are a testament to why this should be the law of the land everywhere, so that we can all feel comfortable and safe to be our authentic selves, to be who we are without having to hide parts of who we are."
Denver7 spoke with advocates ahead of Monday’s first reading of the bill who say the idea was a result of a survey conducted while creating the Kelly Loving Act, which was signed into law in 2025 and expanded legal protections for transgender Coloradans.
The bill advanced out of two committee hearings earlier this month and after Monday’s first reading in city council, it will now head to a second reading which is expected on Oct. 5.
If the ordinance were to become law, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
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