(ConservativeSense.com) – Draft legislation in the Colorado legislature would grant students the right to go by their preferred pronouns and names and impose disciplinary action on teachers who refuse to abide by the students’ wishes, Fox News reported.
The draft legislation was one of three proposed bills brought forward by high school students from the Colorado Youth Advisory Council and has received preliminary approval from a legislative committee.
The legislation would create a task force responsible for recommending how to implement the policy, including the procedure for parental notification.
The Colorado Youth Advisory Council suggested that schools should not be required to inform parents if their children have adopted a non-legal name change, as long as the name does not appear on external documents or correspondence that a parent or guardian would see.
The advisory council claimed that using a student’s old name causes “humiliation” for Colorado transgender youth.
The group also approved draft legislation creating state grants for healthcare providers who offer transgender medical procedures and establishing a task force to study transgender procedures in minors.
The advisory council also proposed a third draft bill that would offer student debt relief to school psychologists working in the state to boost the number of mental health specialists working in Colorado schools.
According to Fox, the legislative council will consider the advisory council’s draft legislative proposals when it meets next week.
If approved, the draft legislation would not be introduced until after the new year.
Colorado lawmakers have passed several gender identity bills in recent years, including ensuring access to transgender medical procedures, banning conversion therapy for minors, and requiring public buildings to include gender-neutral bathrooms.
Copyright 2023, ConservativeSense.com
