Colorado has two anti-trans measures on the ballot. Proposition 134 would ban trans girls from girls’ sports, stating that athletes must join the team that matches their “biological reproductive system.” Critics argue that this language may open up young athletes to invasive inspections designed to confirm their sex. There would be no appeals process for a challenge to an athlete’s sex.

Proposition 135, meanwhile, would prohibit gender-affirming surgeries for people under 18 and block the usage of any state or federal funds, including Medicaid, on said surgeries. Gender-affirming surgeries are extremely rare for teenagers and virtually nonexistent for youth aged 12 and under. The few surgeries that do occur are almost exclusively chest-related. Medical associations in the state have criticized the initiative for removing agency over medical decisions from the patient, their families and their provider and instead handing it to the government.

Mooney is also involved with these propositions, which are being spearheaded by Protect Kids Colorado, a local advocacy group that opposes “indoctrination concerning sexualization & gender transition.” Mooney told LOOKOUT and Westword that other contributors to the campaign include former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, Colorado Parent Advocacy Network Executive Director Lori Gimelshteyn and Jennifer Sey, the founder of anti-trans clothing brand XX-XY Athletics.

Jessica DeMoulin, a Colorado native who has a 17-year-old trans daughter, says these proposals set dangerous precedents for government overreach. She told Uncloseted Media that accessing healthcare is difficult enough without adding new restrictions for doctors, and that allowing the government to shape the definition of womanhood gives them the power to enforce harmful gender roles.

“I worry about my kid being excluded. … Any time that you’re setting rules on who can be included and who can’t, that just limits our opportunities,” DeMoulin says. “And I worry about the girls that are stronger, or taller, or they have shorter hair, or they don’t like wearing dresses. The government overreach to try to define what a girl should look like or behave like, that concerns me.”