President Trump鈥檚 targeting of transgender rights as he begins his second term is raising questions about the potential impact on Colorado laws meant to protect transgender students, including a new one that requires educators to use students鈥� chosen names.
Several school districts, the Colorado Department of Education, and the state Attorney鈥檚 General鈥檚 Office provided a variation of the same answer when contacted by Chalkbeat: We don鈥檛 know yet whether there will be an impact but we are searching for answers.
While experts said executive orders of the kind Trump is using can鈥檛 override state laws, they conceded that the legal landscape under Trump is uncertain. Meanwhile, advocates said the orders are seeding fear in the transgender community, which they said was likely the intent.
鈥淚鈥檓 receiving a lot of emails from the community about, 鈥榃hat does it mean? How does it impact us?鈥欌�� said Jax Gonzalez, the political director at LGBTQ advocacy organization One Colorado.
鈥淎nd that is the point of those executive orders,鈥� Gonzalez said. 鈥淭hose are about scaring people and repressing movement-building.鈥�
Trump has acted quickly to enact his political agenda, including trying to unwind protections for LGBTQ students. An executive order the president signed last week, on the day he was inaugurated, says that the United States only recognizes two sexes, male and female, and that the sexes 鈥渁re not changeable.鈥� The order rescinded Biden-era guidance on supporting LGBTQ students.
Already, one Colorado school board has passed a resolution echoing that language. On Wednesday, the Woodland Park school board directed the district鈥檚 superintendent to update any district policies, procedures, and facility usage guidelines 鈥渢o be consistent with knowledge that there are only two sexes, male and female.鈥�
This week, the Trump administration froze 鈥� and then potentially unfroze, after legal challenges 鈥� all federal grant funding to purge the government of what it called 鈥渨okeness鈥� and 鈥渢ransgenderism.鈥� Trump signed another executive order on Wednesday blocking federal funding from K-12 schools that teach 鈥済ender ideology.鈥�
Ian Farrell, an associate professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, said that while the power of the president is limited and Congress ultimately controls U.S. spending, 鈥渨e live in a weird time where the correct legal answer and what the [U.S.] Supreme Court will say is the correct legal answer are potentially massively different things.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in an era where there is genuine uncertainty about whether the rule of law will be upheld,鈥� Farrell said. 鈥淭hat should concern everybody.鈥�
Some districts adopted name change policies begrudgingly
Colorado has in recent years extended legal protections based on gender identity. In 2021, a state law protecting people from harassment and discrimination was expanded to explicitly cover gender identity. The state鈥檚 bullying law also includes gender identity as a protected class.
Last year, lawmakers approved and the governor signed a bill that protects K-12 public school students who request to use a name other than their legal name at school. Under the law, it is considered discrimination in Colorado for an educator to refuse to use a name chosen by a student to reflect their gender identity.
The idea came from students. The Colorado Youth Advisory Council, a group of 40 students from across the state, helped draft the bill. Both chambers of the state legislature and the governor鈥檚 office are controlled by Democrats, and the bill passed mostly along party lines.
鈥淐olorado prides itself so much on being welcoming, where people are free to be themselves and how they live,鈥� state Rep. Stephanie Vigil, a Colorado Springs Democrat, said at a legislative hearing last year. 鈥淲e feel like it鈥檚 important to act on that.鈥�
Many Colorado school districts have adopted policies to comply with the name change law. But some did so begrudgingly 鈥� and with caveats.
The Woodland Park district, which drew national attention in 2023 for becoming the first district in the country to adopt the conservative American Birthright social studies standards, was one of the first districts to discuss adopting a policy in the wake of the name change law.
One school board member, David Rusterholtz, made clear at the May meeting in which the policy was discussed that the district was 鈥渇orced.鈥�
He called HB24-1039 鈥渁 very bad law鈥� and a violation of his virtues, values, and 鈥淏iblical worldview.鈥� He questioned how the law would help a child who he said had been taken up by what he termed 鈥渟ocial psychosis.鈥�
It鈥檚 unclear whether the resolution adopted by the Woodland Park school board Wednesday that echoes Trump鈥檚 language about two sexes will affect the district鈥檚 existing name change policy. Neither a district spokesperson nor school board members responded to questions from Chalkbeat seeking clarification.
鈥淲e need to stick with science, and the science has always been that there are two sexes,鈥� Rusterholtz said during Wednesday鈥檚 meeting. 鈥淲e need to teach our children the truth. It doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檙e going to accept any kind of bullying.鈥�
Other school boards shared Woodland Park鈥檚 concerns about the state鈥檚 name change law.
Several board members in El Paso County鈥檚 Widefield School District 3 said at a meeting in September that the law amounted to 鈥渃ompelled speech鈥� and 鈥済overnment overreach.鈥� A district spokesperson said last week that district leaders had not yet discussed the potential effects of Trump鈥檚 executive orders on district policy.
Members of the District 49 school board in Colorado Springs had similar objections to the law.
鈥淭he state apparently feels that it can hand down this unconstitutional mandate and tread upon the First Amendment-protected rights of teachers and staff by compelling them to say things that may be against their personally held conscience-based religious beliefs,鈥� District 49 board member Deb Schmidt said at a meeting in November.
District 49鈥檚 policy has several caveats. It says a student鈥檚 parents must consent to a non-legal name change by signing a form. It limits students to one name change per year and says the district can say no if a name 鈥渋s vulgar or offensive, obscene, or is used for misrepresentation.鈥�
The policy also allows what it calls 鈥渁n accommodation to conscience-based objections to compelled speech鈥� 鈥� that is, exceptions for those who object 鈥� as long as the accommodation does not result in 鈥渟ubstantial increased costs鈥� to the district.
Lori Thompson, president of the District 49 school board, said in an email to Chalkbeat that the board was discussing with the school district鈥檚 lawyer how Trump鈥檚 executive orders might impact the name change policy. She noted that District 49鈥檚 policy has a clause that says it will be 鈥渋mmediately voided in its entirety鈥� if the state law is found to be unconstitutional.
鈥淭he one thing that will not change,鈥� Thompson wrote, is that 鈥淒49 will not withhold information about a student from their parents or legal guardians.鈥�
Other districts express support for LGBTQ community
Other districts, including Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools, and Boulder Valley School District, have adopted name change policies that don鈥檛 require parental consent. They simply note that refusing to call a student by their chosen name is considered discrimination.
Several such districts said they are taking a wait-and-see approach to how Trump鈥檚 executive orders could affect laws and policies meant to protect transgender students.
In a letter to staff on Friday, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero said the district remains committed to following state and federal laws protecting LGBTQ staff and students.
鈥淲e value and affirm all DPS humans,鈥� read an information sheet from the district鈥檚 legal department that was linked in Marrero鈥檚 letter. 鈥淵ou belong here.鈥�
A Boulder Valley School District spokesperson pointed to a resolution passed by the Boulder school board in December that says the district 鈥渟hall do everything in its lawful powers to protect our LGBTQ students and community members,鈥� among other vulnerable groups.
But attacks on such protections have already begun. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights said it is investigating Denver Public Schools for converting a girls鈥� restroom at Denver鈥檚 East High School to an all-gender restroom.
Locally, there has been at least one lawsuit over the state鈥檚 name change law. Two parents sued Brighton-based 27J Schools for allegedly violating their constitutional rights by allowing their child to use a different name and pronouns at school without their consent. The parents sought to block the state and the school district from enacting the name change law.
A federal judge on Friday rejected the parents鈥� attempt, in part because the 2024 law wasn鈥檛 in effect when their child asked to use a different name and pronouns at school in 2022 and 2023.
鈥淒espite the claim that 鈥榯he District is socially transitioning their children,鈥� the District is not the decision maker at issue: the student is,鈥� U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney wrote in her ruling. 鈥淭he Law and Policies only require the District to follow the student鈥檚 chosen name and pronouns and to provide support.鈥�
District Superintendent Will Pierce said in an interview that the district won鈥檛 change its policy on student name changes in light of the Trump executive orders 鈥� at least not yet. Like many other district leaders, he鈥檚 closely watching the legal landscape for guidance.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of clarity about what we鈥檙e supposed to do next,鈥� Pierce said. 鈥淥ur response is to do what we always do and try to find a place where every student feels welcome and receives dignity when they walk through the door. They matter.鈥�
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.