With the November midterm slowly but surely creeping up, many are curious what they can expect to be on the ballot. The typical questions, while always anticipated, are now accompanied by ballot measures that ask voters to make decisions that will affect the lives of its transgender citizens in four different states, Colorado, Maine, Missouri, and Washington.
Colorado
In a few months, Colorado residents will be voting on two different pieces of legislation that relate to the transgender community, Ballot Initiatives 109 and 110.
“Ballot Initiative 109 seeks to define sex binaries for children in the language of future state legislature, separated by birth sex into ‘boys and girls,’ while the purpose of Ballot Initiative 110,” Writes Ixora Cook, associate editor and writer for OFM, “Is to bar doctors in the state from performing gender-affirming surgeries on minors. It’s also meant to block state and federal funding for healthcare programs like Medicaid from covering gender-affirming procedures.” Cook, adding to the concern generated by these ballot measures, mentions that 110 will prevent not only minors, but all trans people on Medicaid from accessing their lifesaving gender affirming care.
“These proposals go too far,” Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, says. “They push the government into personal health care decisions that should stay with families and medical providers. That kind of political intrusion does not make families safer or stronger. Coloradans deserve an honest conversation about the real-world impact of these proposals. One of these measures could expose young people to invasive scrutiny simply because they want to play sports in school. That raises serious concerns about privacy, dignity, and the well-being of kids who just want to belong and participate like their peers.”
Maine
Maine has a citizen-proposed initiative that’s aimed at banning transgender students in school sports. With more than 70,000 signatures, the measure first goes to the state legislature, where it can be enacted as it is written or sent to voters to weigh in on and decide. The proposal would limit which teams transgender athletes could play on and which locker rooms they could access.
“We really believe that Maine is a place that cares about our neighbors, including our trans neighbors, and is not prepared to enshrine in state law a proposal that would discriminate against all children in public schools in Maine K to 12,” says Destie Hohman Sprague, executive director of the Maine Women’s Lobby. A coalition of opponents to the proposition has launched the statewide Campaign for Free and Fair Schools included in the coalition is Equality Maine, the Maine Women’s Lobby, and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law).
“This is part of a larger attempt by right-wing billionaires to buy their way into our schools and communities and insert their harmful agenda,” says Spague, “As Maine’s leading organization for gender equity, we are prepared to fight these attempts every step of the way. Attacking gender identity is an attack on all women and girls—from their bodily autonomy, to their right to express their gender however they see fit without fear of policing or bullying. We want all kids, regardless of their gender, to be able to participate normally in school. This ballot initiative would take that ability away.”
Missouri
Contrary to the legislation being pushed in Colorado, Missouri constituents will be voting on whether or not to repeal a law already enacted. Amendment 3, the right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, was an approved ballot measure from the 2024 election cycle and was adopted into the state’s constitution. The question is now whether an amendment should be made not only to prohibit abortion unless in the specific cases outlined, but further to ban gender affirming care for minors.
“The majority of Missourians want to make their own decisions about health care without interference from prying politicians,” Says Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action. “We will not stand for more political games at the expense of the thousands of patients in Missouri who could finally access care they need without crossing state lines. Missouri voters will once again send a clear message that enough is enough.” Already confirmed to be on the ballot this year, the proposed ban would pertain to hormones, puberty blockers, and gender transition procedures for minors living in the state, and rescind the state’s constitutional right to reproductive freedom.
Washington
The legislative proposal coming from Washington would require students who want to compete in women’s sports to provide sex verifying documentation. Initiative IL26-638 is expected to appear on the ballot later this year after being blocked in the state legislature by a 49-41 vote. If passed, this would raise concerns for transgender students who want to participate in sports aligning with their gender identity, which is currently allowed by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. The proposed initiative would require both documentation and verification of an athlete’s assigned sex at birth from a health care professional, entailing a variety of testing not typical of sports physicals, including testing hormone levels.
There have been hundreds of different anti-trans legislative proposals this year, and it’s not even April. The ‘Trans Legislation Tracker’ tells us that there are currently 747 different pieces of legislation that seek to block those in the transgender community from receiving basic and lifesaving healthcare, education, and legal recognition across 42 different states. “2025 was the sixth consecutive record-breaking year for total bills considered. This followed the unprecedented surge in 2023, which more than tripled the record set the year before.” We are currently on track to beat last year’s record.
