Protect Kids Colorado announced that all three of its state ballot measures to safeguard children qualified for the November ballot.
In an entirely grassroots effort, the child safety and parental rights advocacy group gathered more than 500,000 total signatures for the initiatives.
The first measure, Initiative 108, would give predators convicted of trafficking children a life sentence; Initiative 109 would prevent males from participating in girls sports; while Initiative 110 would prohibit irreversible “transgender” surgeries for minors.
Protect Kids Colorado Executive Director Erin Lee announced the victory in a post on X, acknowledging the enormous effort from supporters: “All 3 Protect Kids Colorado measures are officially ON THE BALLOT!… People from every walk of life stepped up, sacrificed, and continue to fight for what matters. And because of ALL of you, the people will have a voice.”
In an email, Lee thanked volunteers who spent six months collecting signatures at hundreds of churches, grocery stores, ministries, colleges and signing events around the state: “This is more than a milestone – it’s a historic, grassroots achievement powered by people across Colorado. What many said was impossible, you made a reality. More than 3,300 petition carriers, 1,900+ notaries, hundreds of churches, and so many supporters stepped up – getting signatures, giving, sharing and showing up day after day. Every conversation, signature, and hour mattered.”
Some volunteers faced anger and vitriol from transgender activists and their allies as they explained the ballot measures to registered voters.
Collecting more than 165,000 signatures for each measure on a shoestring budget really was an extraordinary achievement. Ballotpedia reports that Protect Kids Colorado spent a little more than $54,000 in support of all three measures.
By way of comparison, Let’s Go Washington spent almost $4.4 million to place two citizen-initiated measures, protecting girls sports and parental rights in education, on the November ballot.
The notoriously radical Colorado Legislature considered three bills that would have done exactly what the ballot measures do – but each piece of legislation was voted down along party lines in House committees.
The Children are Not for Sale Act, which would have given life sentences to those who traffic children, was defeated in the Judiciary Committee in a 4-7 vote. The Protect Female Sports Act was killed in the State, Civic, Military & Veterans Affairs Committee with a 3-8 vote. And a measure to Safeguard Minors from Sex-Altering Interventions failed to move forward, losing a 5-7 vote in the Health & Human Services Committee.
So now, it’s up to Colorado voters to do what the Legislature would not: Give those convicted of trafficking minors a life sentence without parole; protect girls sports – and their privacy and safety – from male athletes; and protect minors from irreversible, body damaging transgender surgeries.
Daily Citizen is a news division of Focus on the Family that provides a faith-based perspective to counter the mainstream media’s anti-Christian bias.
