Posted August 13, 2026
The League of Women Voters of Colorado (LWVCO), on behalf of its 20 local Leagues, has formally called on Attorney General Phil Weiser to speak publicly and unequivocally in support of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and the Colorado institutions now facing federal funding threats for complying with it.
In a letter delivered August 7, the League cited two institutions under direct federal pressure. Children’s Hospital Colorado is in litigation over gender-affirming services for transgender youth after federal investigations and Medicaid funding threats led it to suspend care the Colorado Supreme Court has since ordered restored. Jefferson County Public Schools — the state’s second-largest district — faces the potential loss of tens of millions in federal funding after the U.S. Department of Education found its CADA-compliant accommodations for transgender students violate Title IX.
“Neither of these institutions invented these policies. Both are doing exactly what Colorado law requires,” said Mary Parker, President of LWVCO. “Colorado schools and hospitals should never be forced to choose between violating state law and losing the federal funds their students and patients depend on. When state law comes under coercive federal pressure, Coloradans look to their Attorney General to stand up for them.”
Colorado schools and hospitals should never be forced to choose between violating state law and losing the federal funds their students and patients depend on.”
Mary Parker, President of LWVCO
The letter asks the Attorney General to publicly affirm that CADA’s protections for transgender Coloradans remain fully in force; to express support for the lawful policies of Children’s Hospital Colorado, Jefferson County Public Schools, and covered entities statewide; to intervene as a party in the district’s pending litigation against the U.S. Department of Education; and to use the full authority of his office to defend Colorado institutions against federal funding coercion. It joins Jefferson County’s own public request for such a statement, and was copied to Governor Jared Polis and Education Commissioner Susana Córdova.
“These pressures are causing profound and, in some cases, irreversible harm to Colorado’s most vulnerable children and their families,” said Kathy Ebersberger, Co-Director of Action & Advocacy at LWVCO. “As a new school year begins, transgender students need safe, welcoming, and affirming schools more than ever. Colorado’s transgender children, their families, and the institutions that serve them deserve to know that the State of Colorado stands behind its own laws.”
The League of Women Voters of Colorado (LWVCO) is a nonpartisan civic engagement organization that empowers voters and defends democracy through 20 local Leagues across the state. Learn more at lwvcolorado.org and vote411.org.
- UFW Foundation Unveils First In-Depth Survey of Undocumented Farm Workers Impacted by Immigration Raids - August 13, 2026
- To Afford Aging in Place, Older Adults Turn to ‘Golden Girls’ Housing - August 13, 2026
- Community Members Demand Colorado Issue Public Health Order For ICE Tuberculosis Case - August 13, 2026
