Colorado governor signs law recognizing that trans kids have privacy rights

A new Colorado law will seal name-change records for minors, protecting the privacy of transgender youth who change their names.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed Senate Bill 18 into law on Monday. In Colorado, residents must petition a court to officially change their names. Under the new law, which takes effect July 1, courts are required to keep those requests private for anyone under 18 years old who has not been convicted of a felony.

The new law is intended to safeguard the privacy of transgender youth, according to Democratic state lawmakers in the Colorado General Assembly.

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“Passing this bill is simple, but its impact is profound,” said state Sen. Katie Wallace, a Democrat from Longmont, according to the Colorado Newsline. “It gives children the safety and dignity they deserve, and it treats their private life with the same care we afford in other sensitive cases.”

An earlier version of the bill would have also ordered family court judges to consider a parent’s acceptance of their child’s gender identity in custody cases. The bill’s sponsors removed that provision following pushback from both Republican lawmakers and Polis.

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Some Republican state lawmakers in Colorado have sought to create new restrictions on trans rights, mirroring anti-trans policy efforts from Republicans on the national level. Bills set forth by Republicans in the state legislature this year have aimed to limit trans residents from accessing sports and gender-affirming care.

Meanwhile, Colorado officials have sought to use their Democratic supermajority to uphold trans rights. Last year, the state adopted a law containing broad new protections for trans residents, including protections against deadnaming and misgendering, and protections for family decision-making around gender-affirming care.

This article was written as part of the Future of Queer Media fellowship program at The Advocate, which is underwritten by a generous gift from Morrison Media Group. The program helps support the next generation of LGBTQ+ journalists.