Colorado ballot measures on transgender youth sports, surgeries passing with slim majorities

Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post on Nov 3, 2026

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DENVER — Two Colorado ballot issues related to transgender youth were passing with slim majorities as vote counting continued Tuesday night.

About 52% of voters supported Proposition 134, which would ban transgender people from school sports teams that match their gender identities, as of 9:20 p.m. About 48% opposed the measure.

Similarly, 51.5% of voters supported Proposition 135, which would prohibit gender-affirming surgeries for people under 18, with 48.5% rejecting it.

Shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the first round of returns showed both measures trailing by a sizeable percentage. But votes in favor of the two measures pulled ahead about a half hour into counting, with the margin fluctuating as results continued to roll in.

Currently, Colorado allows students to play on teams matching their gender identities, but the governing body overseeing high school sports doesn’t penalize districts that put their own bans in place.

Proposition 134 would make the prohibition statewide, so transgender boys taking testosterone would play alongside girls, while transgender girls taking estrogen would play on boys’ teams.

Proponents argued it would make sports fair for girls, while opponents said students could face genital exams to verify their sex.

The two sides differed in their assessments of how widely Proposition 135 would impact care to young people, with proponents saying it would only ban surgeries to change sexual characteristics because of a patient’s gender identity, and those opposed saying other types of care could fall under the ban.

Backers said teenagers don’t have the maturity to make decisions with lifelong consequences, while opponents countered that parents and doctors are best positioned to determine what healthcare minors need and their capacity to decide.

No Colorado hospitals currently offer gender-affirming surgeries to minors.

The Trump administration has threatened to cut off Medicare and Medicaid payments to any hospital that provides puberty blockers, hormones or surgeries to underage patients for gender-affirming purposes. (Cisgender children and teens can receive the same medications and procedures for different medical needs.)

Federal officials also sent subpoenas to hospitals for providers’ and patients’ records.

Children’s Hospital Colorado and Denver Health stopped prescribing puberty blockers and hormonal treatments for gender affirmation late last year in response to the legal risk. A court order forced Children’s to officially reinstate those services, but none of its providers have agreed to offer them, citing fear for their livelihoods. A federal magistrate recommended throwing out a subpoena for Children’s patients’ records, but the Justice Department has appealed.

The administration also threatened to withhold $50 million in federal funding for Jeffco Public Schools, alleging its policies supporting transgender students discriminated against cisgender girls. The district sued the U.S. Department of Education in July, and the case is ongoing.

Twenty-seven states have laws restricting transgender people’s participation on sports teams that align with their gender identity, and two states have similar bans via regulations. Twenty-six states have restrictions on youth gender-affirming care, though courts have blocked two. Arizona restricts only surgeries.

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