Colorado Ballot Measures Would Restrict Trans Youth Sports, Medicaid Surgery Coverage
Colorado voters will decide two ballot measures affecting transgender youth: Proposition 134 would require school and college sports teams to be designated by biological sex rather than gender identity, and Proposition 135 would ban certain gender-affirming surgeries for minors while also barring Medicaid reimbursement and insurance coverage for those procedures. Proposition 135 includes exceptions for certain medical conditions and excludes circumcision, and would not affect counseling, puberty blockers, or hormone treatment. The measures follow Colorado's history of expanding protections for transgender residents, including shield laws and a lawsuit against the Trump administration over federal Medicaid restrictions on gender-affirming care. Passage of Proposition 135 would mark a reversal of the state's current approach and cut off Medicaid as a funding source for covered surgeries if minors sought them.