Deep-Blue Colorado and Washington Vote With Conservatives on Trans Issues
Intra-Party Split Detected
In otherwise Democratic-leaning Colorado and Washington, a notable share of voters (including some Democrats and independents, per Let's Go Washington) broke from progressive/LGBTQ advocacy groups to support bans on transgender athletes in women's sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors, despite opposition from groups like GLAAD and Planned Parenthood.
Left says
- •No one becomes transgender on a whim or to gain a competitive advantage, and singling out transgender youth for restrictions causes real harm to a small, already vulnerable population.
- •These measures were heavily funded and organized by national advocacy groups that targeted Colorado and Washington specifically because they are otherwise Democratic-leaning states, not because of grassroots demand.
- •Gender-affirming care decisions should remain between families, doctors, and patients rather than being dictated by ballot initiatives or politicians.
- •LGBTQ advocates warn the results will have a chilling effect on transgender people of all ages and describe the outcome as a painful setback for a community that already faces discrimination.
Right says
- •Protecting girls' sports and shielding minors from irreversible gender-related surgeries are commonsense, bipartisan values that transcend typical left-right politics.
- •These victories came from genuine grassroots efforts, including thousands of volunteers and faith communities who gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures despite being outspent by well-funded opposition campaigns.
- •Passage in deep-blue states shows that everyday Democrats and independents support these protections even when their party leadership and advocacy groups like GLAAD and Planned Parenthood oppose them.
- •These wins mark only partial progress since roughly 21 states still lack similar protections, meaning the broader fight to secure these policies nationwide continues.
Common Take
- Both Colorado's Proposition 134 and 135 and Washington's Initiative 638 passed with similar margins, around 52% to 57% support.
- Both sides recognize these results were notable because they occurred in traditionally Democratic-leaning states during an otherwise strong Democratic election night.
- Both sides agree the issue generated significant organized campaign spending and mobilization efforts from opposing advocacy groups.
- Both sides acknowledge that policies on transgender youth in sports and healthcare remain unsettled nationally, with different states adopting different approaches.
The Arguments
Right argues
Protecting girls' sports from biological males and shielding minors from irreversible gender-related surgeries reflect commonsense values that cut across partisan lines, as shown by their passage in deep-blue states despite opposition from Democratic party leadership and advocacy groups.
Left counters
Majority votes on ballot measures don't make them just; singling out a small, already marginalized population for restrictions can be popular and still cause disproportionate harm to transgender youth and their families.
Left argues
These measures were heavily funded and organized by national advocacy groups that strategically targeted Colorado and Washington specifically because they are Democratic-leaning states, suggesting the campaigns were top-down political strategy rather than organic local demand.
Right counters
The campaign finance numbers actually show the opposite imbalance — opponents outspent supporters by over 20-to-1 in Colorado, and the Colorado measures only reached the ballot because more than 3,300 volunteers collected 500,000 signatures, which is strong evidence of genuine grassroots mobilization rather than outside dark money.
Left argues
Decisions about gender-affirming care are deeply personal medical matters that should be made by families, doctors, and patients together, not legislated through statewide ballot initiatives that apply one-size-fits-all rules to complex individual circumstances.
Right counters
Society routinely sets legal age limits and restrictions on irreversible medical procedures for minors precisely because children cannot give fully informed consent to permanent, life-altering interventions, and voters are entitled to weigh in on medical policy affecting minors just as they do on other child protection laws.
Right argues
The fact that these measures passed even in traditionally Democratic strongholds, with polling suggesting substantial support from Democrats and independents, shows a genuine disconnect between rank-and-file voters and the positions taken by national LGBTQ advocacy organizations and party leadership.
Left counters
Winning a popularity contest doesn't validate a policy's fairness or accuracy; transgender people are a tiny fraction of athletes and surgery patients, and ballot-box majorities voting on the rights of a small minority is exactly the scenario constitutional protections for minorities are meant to guard against.
Left argues
LGBTQ advocates warn that these votes will have a chilling effect on transgender people of all ages, reinforcing stigma and signaling that their safety and dignity are subject to majority vote, which compounds the real discrimination this community already faces.
Right counters
These measures are narrowly targeted at protecting fair competition in girls' sports and preventing irreversible surgeries on minors specifically — they don't restrict adult transgender people's rights or access to care, so framing them as a broad attack on the transgender community overstates their actual scope.
Challenge Questions
These questions target genuine internal contradictions — meant to provoke honest reflection.
Right asks Left
“If polling and ballot results show meaningful support from Democrats and independents in deep-blue states, on what basis can these outcomes be dismissed as merely the product of outside-funded campaigns rather than reflecting genuine shifts in public opinion?”
Left asks Right
“If the right's stated goal is simply protecting fairness in girls' sports and shielding minors from irreversible decisions, how does that square with campaign rhetoric describing the outcome as defeating an 'evil' agenda, which suggests broader motives than narrow child-safety policy?”
Outlier Report
Left Fringe
Figures like Chase Strangio (ACLU) and organizations like GLAAD represent a minority view even among Democrats, opposing any restrictions as inherently discriminatory; this likely represents 15-20% of the left, as polling shows many rank-and-file Democrats diverge from advocacy group positions on sports and youth medical interventions specifically.
Right Fringe
Some further-right commentators and figures (e.g., certain state legislators pushing broader bans extending to adult care or bathroom access) go beyond the narrow sports/minors framing into more sweeping anti-trans policy, representing perhaps 15-20% of the right who would extend restrictions much further than these ballot measures.
Noise Assessment
High noise ratio: social media discourse (X posts, activist statements) skews toward the most emotionally charged framing on both sides, while actual voter behavior in these blue states reveals a more pragmatic, less polarized electorate than online discourse suggests.
Sources (4)
<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/double-win-colorado-bans-gender-surgeries-for-minors-protects-girls-sports.png?id=68538721&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C1%2C0" /><br /><br /><p>Colorado has voted in favor of two propositions that progressives say will result in more "hate" in the state.</p><p>For others, they will ban barbaric gender-related operations on minors and keep girls' sports teams for girls only.</p><p class="pull-quote">'No one ... becomes transgender on a whim.'</p><p><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/feeds/Proposition%20135%20in%20Colorado%20had%20a%20lot%20of%20money%20pumped%20into%20the%20campaign,%20specifically%20for%20the%20" target="_blank">Proposition 135</a> was fairly straightforward and asked voters to decided whether they support a ban on gender-related procedures for minors.</p><p>Voting "yes" on the proposition meant prohibiting health care professionals from "performing or providing surgeries to individuals under age 18 for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics," while prohibiting state and federal funds and insurance coverage from paying for such procedures.</p><p>A "no" vote opposed all of the above.</p><p>Coloradoans voted in favorite of banning the procedures, with 52% of them voting "yes" on the proposition, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/ballot-measures" target="_blank">NBC News</a>.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/shows/relatable/we-need-to-talk-about-homecoming-dresses-christian-moms-whats-going-on" target="_blank">We need to talk about homecoming dresses. Christian moms: What’s going on?</a></strong></p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-custom"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="85240" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68538702&width=1245&height=700&quality=50&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images</small></p> <p>Proposition 135 in Colorado had a lot of money pumped into the campaign, specifically for the "no" vote.</p><p>According to Ballotpedia, campaign finance figures showed that more than $4.4 million was contributed to the "no" campaign, versus just over $215,000 for the "yes" campaign.</p><p>Before the vote, 27 states already had laws or policies restricting gender-related surgeries for minors, according to <a href="https://www.kff.org/lgbtq/gender-affirming-care-policy-tracker/" target="_blank">KFF</a>.</p><p>Many coastal states, including California and New York, do not have restrictions on such operations.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tech/fcc-robo-call-spam-texxt" target="_blank">Spam texts and robocalls cost Americans billions — the biggest victims are not those you suspect</a></strong></p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="83ff1" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68538710&width=1245&height=700&quality=50&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images</small></p> <p>As expected, progressives were against the proposition, with activist groups like <a href="https://glaad.org/fact-sheet-colorado-proposition-134-and-135-anti-lgbtq-ballot-measures/" target="_blank">GLAAD</a> calling that proposition, along with another ballot proposition to require separating school sports by gender, "anti-LGBTQ ballot measures."</p><p>At the same time, Colorado Sun columnist Mario Nicolais <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2026/10/25/propositions-134-135-transgender-opinion-nicolais/" target="_blank">said</a> that passing the measures would make Colorado a "hate state."</p><p>Nicolais said that the propositions should not be passed because "the transgender community has been singled out." "No one of any age becomes transgender on a whim," he wrote. "No one does so just to play sports."</p><p>The proposition to keep "people with male reproductive systems" off of female school sports teams in Colorado, Proposition 134, also <a href="https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/ballot-measure-results/" target="_blank">won</a>, by a slightly higher margin: 52.3% to 47.7%.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>
<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/common-sense-prevails-washington-voters-buck-blue-wave-on-girls-sports.jpg?id=68614893&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C13%2C0%2C94" /><br /><br /><p>An unlikely victory for advocates of protecting women's sports has rocked a deep-blue state — and LGBTQ protesters aren't at all happy about it. </p><p>While a blue wave swept the nation on Tuesday, some argue that common sense prevailed in Washington state. </p><p class="pull-quote">'This vote is a testament that that evil will not win in our state.'</p><p>Washington Initiative 638's proposed update to existing law would require a signed physician's note that "verifies the student's biological sex" and would "prohibit biologically male students from competing with and against female students."</p><p>AP News <a href="https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/ballot-measure-results/" target="_blank">reported</a> that the initiative barring trans-identifying males from participating in women's sports <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/11/03/us/elections/results-washington-measure-638-trans-athletes-participation-in-school-sports.html" target="_blank">passed</a> with strong support: 1,438,212 votes, or 56.8%, in favor versus 1,094,168 votes, or 43.2%, against the measure, with 78.5% of the votes counted.</p><p>The organizers of the ballot initiative, <a href="https://letsgowashington.com/" target="_blank">Let's Go Washington</a>, <a href="https://x.com/letsgowa/status/2118527287050052052?a=xk4bUdLg_rDtbRByQYo&s=20" target="_blank">said</a> the effort brought girls together: "They stood for their friends in other states because they have been forced to compete against boys in girls' sports." </p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/voter-id-passes-four-states" target="_self"><strong>Voter ID laws pass in FOUR states despite devastating blue wave</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span> </p><p>Let's Go Washington highlighted one advocate, Kendall Kotzmacher, who likewise <a href="https://x.com/KKotzmacher/status/2118072663788962057?a=stzEbnfSWg6lQ6KAtZs&s=20" target="_blank">celebrated</a> the win on social media: <span style="background-color: initial;">"</span>Common sense prevails!!"</p><p>Brian Heywood, the founder of Let's Go Washington, told Blaze News that this was a win for all of the girls who have been "told time and again by the majority party that their voices and opportunities don't matter."</p><p>"On election night," Heywood continued, "those girls saw that millions of Washingtonians stand with them and care that their sports are safe and fair. Washington’s girls are worth protecting and fighting for. Five years from now, I hope girl athletes don’t know this fight took place, because that will mean that they don’t have to carry the burden these girls did and that boys know their place is not in girls’ sports."</p><p>"This vote is a testament that that evil will not win in our state," Heywood added. "To every female athlete who wondered whether her voice mattered: Washington heard you."</p><p>LGBTQ advocates, however, saw the issue differently.</p><p>A number of supporters for "trans rights" gathered on Thursday night at Westlake Park in Seattle to reflect on the success of the initiative. </p><p>King 5 Seattle <a href="https://youtu.be/rd99G1dYBDE?si=ZT4_DZJt9yisvR__" target="_blank">reported </a>that many who gathered were "deeply" upset by the passage of the initiative. One person at the event called the results a "complete travesty." Another older attendee argued that it will have a "chilling effect on trans people of all ages."</p><p>Initiative 638 was the only ballot initiative that passed in the state. An initiative to repeal a millionaires' tax and an initiative to restore some parental rights in schools failed, perhaps indicating something unique about the issue of women's sports.</p><p>A spokesperson for Let's Go Washington told Blaze News that "fairness isn't a partisan issue," arguing that "nearly half of the people who signed the initiative in the first place were Democrats and independents, so it just proves that everyone cares about keeping girls' sports for girls."</p><p>Jennifer Sey, founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, told Blaze News: “The midterm results proved — despite deep-pocketed interest groups' efforts to label the initiatives as ‘right-wing’ and ‘bigoted’ — that protecting girls’ sports was never about right versus left; it’s about right versus wrong.” </p><p>Sey added: “Now party leaders must take heed: Your own base has spoken decisively. This is a watershed moment, though it will not end the debate. These measures will not finish the work. Laws never change culture by themselves. Twenty-one states still do not protect female categories. Undoubtedly, some will resist. </p><p>"The difference now is that Washington … parents and athletes have legal recourse."</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>
Voters in a deep-blue state chose to protect sex-based rights and stop minors from receiving gender surgeries, bringing the transgender agenda to a grinding halt. Coloradans have officially passed Proposition 134, “The Protect Girls’ Sports Act,” and Proposition 135, “The Protect Kids From Irreversible Sex-Change Surgery Act,” according to the Associated Press. Both measures passed ...
<p>While Conservatives may be licking their wounds following Tuesday’s defeat, their saving grace proved to be the slew of favorable ballot measure outcomes across the country.</p> The post <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/11/washington-colorado-vote-to-ban-men-from-womens-sports/">Washington, Colorado Vote to Ban Men from Women’s Sports</a> first appeared on <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com">Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion</a>.