Pro-Family Propositions Heading to Colorado Secretary of State Ahead of 2026 Ballot

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After months of dedicated effort, three ballot initiatives backed by the Catholic Church in Colorado are heading to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office for review and eventual inclusion in the November 2026 ballot.

Proposition 109, “The Protect Women and Girls’ Sports Act,” garnered over 170,000 signatures and aims to designate sports as male, female or co-ed, thereby protecting women and girls’ private spaces.

Proposition 110, “The Protect Children from Irreversible Sex Change Surgery Act,” which collected over 164,000 signatures, will prohibit surgeries to change a child’s sex, while not impacting medically necessary care.

Proposition 108, “The Children Are Not for Sale Act,” garnered over 170,000 signatures and will increase criminal penalties for child sex trafficking.

With more than 503,000 signatures collected between the three propositions, the volunteer effort to protect women and children is an unprecedented success, adding to similar efforts in Arizona, Maine, Nevada and Washington. Each Colorado ballot initiative far exceeded the state’s minimum 125,000 signatures required to appear on the November ballot.

“This incredible effort gathering over a half-million signatures, nearly all from volunteers, is truly a historic event and clearly shows how much Coloradans reject policies that put ideology ahead of children’s well-being,” said Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, a local organization spearheading the efforts. “As a mother who nearly lost my own child to secret school transition policies, I understand how devastating these practices can be. Proposition 110 ensures that children are protected from irreversible medical procedures before they are old enough to fully understand the lifelong consequences.”

Last August, the four bishops of Colorado issued a letter through the Colorado Catholic Conference encouraging the Catholic faithful to support Propositions 108, 109 and 110, and asking Catholic churches in Colorado to host volunteers during signature-collection weekends.

“As Catholic bishops of Colorado, we implore the Catholic faithful to act in accordance with Church teaching in support of these three initiatives,” the bishops wrote, noting the importance of the initiatives in the face of other “extreme laws violating parental rights.”

“The 2026 proposed citizen-led initiatives will empower Coloradans to secure their parental rights, protect their children and defend their First Amendment rights of conscience and expression,” they added.

With the support of the bishops and Catholic churches across the state, the effort smashed signature goals, bringing together hundreds of thousands in support of parental rights. It is even estimated that at least one-third of the signatures for the three initiatives came from the Colorado Catholic community.

The initiatives’ success comes at a particularly poignant moment, as a key provision was dropped in another proposed law within the Colorado Legislature. Before it was removed, the provision would have put parental custody in jeopardy in cases of child gender dysphoria.

“Last week, nearly 100 Coloradans once again advocated against an anti-parental rights bill that would have stripped parents of their custody of their children for disagreement on gender ideology. Coloradans again advocated for their children and their rights given by God and the First Amendment to educate their children according to their sincerely held beliefs,” said Brittany Vessely, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference. "We should be concerned whenever government policy is to separate children from their families, not for abuse or neglect, but because of differences in personal beliefs.

"The Protect Kids Colorado initiatives are about restoring parental autonomy and affirming their God-given and First Amendment-protected rights to educate and care for their children without state intervention, including stopping human trafficking, protecting girls’ sports and prohibiting sex change surgeries on children. We’re grateful that our communities came out to support these initiatives so emphatically,” she concluded.