DENVER -- A bill that would prohibit state licensed mental health professionals from practicing any therapy aimed at changing a young person’s sexual orientation or gender orientation is now on its way to the full Colorado House.
The bill is one of two bills being pushed through the Colorado Legislature this year by the LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado. Executive Director Daniel Ramos talked about the group’s efforts with Nicole Brady on this week’s Politics Unplugged.
“The other bill that we’re working on [is] a bill that would make it easier for transgender people to update the gender on their birth certificate,” Ramos said. “Currently in Colorado you have to go and get a surgery, and then after you get a surgery you have to go before a judge and prove that you had a surgery and it’s an incredibly invasive process and one that requires many steps for an individual to have an identity document that matches who they are.”
Ramos said the group is also closely watching developments surrounding the repeal of Obama-era rules allowing transgender individuals to use the restroom of the gender they identify with. A 2008 anti-discrimination bill protects that right in Colorado, but Ramos said there are concerns that could change if challenged by the current administration.
“Unfortunately in this move from the Trump administration what we’ve seen is him really turn his back on a community he promised to protect during the campaign,” Ramos added.
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Politics Unplugged airs Sundays at 4 p.m. on Denver7.
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