Laydon, Hudson reprimanded by Colorado GOP

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A political rift two states away has spilled into Colorado and Douglas County politics, with Colorado GOP leaders formally rebuking elected Republican o cials for standing with Democrats in their opposition to the Montana state House barring a transgender lawmaker from the chamber.

First-term Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr had been prevented from speaking on the chamber oor by the Montana House speaker since April 20, when she refused to apologize for telling colleagues who supported a ban on gender-a rming care for youths that they would have “blood” on their hands, the Associated Press reported.

In response, state Rep. Brianna Titone, an Arvada Democrat, led over 75 elected o cials in Colorado in sending a letter to Montana legislators asking for Zephyr to be allowed back into the chamber, according to a news release.

“She was right to speak with strong words of advocacy for those Montana residents who are struggling to get the care, understanding, and respect they so desperately need,” the letter says.

e letter, signed by two local Republicans, Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon and Castle Pines City Councilmember Roger Hudson, prompted Colorado Republican Party leaders to pass a resolution that “reprimanded” Hudson, Laydon and Republican state Reps. Ron Weinberg and Rick Taggart, who also signed the letter.

“It’s the responsibility of any organization to hold its members accountable for harmful decisions they make,” the Colorado GOP said in a June 21 email announcement.

Douglas o cials respond

For Hudson, the Castle Pines city councilmember, limits on debate on potential state laws in uenced his decision to sign Titone’s letter, he told Colorado Community Media.

“ e majority silencing the minority through procedural tactics isn’t right,” Hudson said. “Isn’t right in Colorado and it isn’t OK in Montana.”

Hudson, who also serves as deputy chief of sta for the Colorado House Republicans, said in a statement that he believes in a Colorado “where we all are free to speak and live freely.”

“I believe most Coloradans want the same,” his statement continued.

“I cannot speak to the motives of (Colorado GOP chair) Dave Williams in passing any resolution that would limit the free speech of any American or duly elected Colorado Republican — but I am positive that it doesn’t reduce the property taxes of a single Coloradan, increase housing for Colorado families, or make our communities any safer.”

Laydon, one of Douglas County’s three elected commissioners, noted in a statement that Republicans in Colorado have held little political power statewide in recent years.

“ e Colorado Republican Party cannot a ord further division, especially over Montana politics. e day we stop supporting the United States Constitution and the First Amendment in Colorado is the moment that we lose the nal vestiges of con dence that our fellow citizens, our voters, and our donors have invested,” Laydon’s statement read.

He continued: “I will continue to actively ght censorship, book burning, and any other fascist behaviors which our brave men and women in the military fought and died to overcome. I have faith that as intelligent, right-minded Colorado Republicans, you will also continue to honor what our ag stands for and never bow to those that would censor speech, even speech we may disagree with.”

‘Lives on the line’

Zephyr’s silencing on the Montana House oor drew hundreds of protesters to the Montana Capitol, the AP reported. From the House gallery, Zephyr’s supporters chanted, “Let her speak!” Police cleared the gallery and arrested seven people for trespassing. Zephyr was voted o the House oor for violating its rules of decorum.

(Zephyr was to still be able to vote and participate in committees but not discuss proposals and amendments under consideration in the full House.)

Montana became the latest state to ban or restrict gender-a rming medical care for transgender kids when its Republican governor signed legislation in April. e letter from Titone, who is transgender, framed the issue as one where “lives are on the line.”

LGBTQ+ youth, who “are relentlessly persecuted, ostracized, and denied basic rights,” are more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, Titone’s letter says.

Compared with cisgender, or not trans, heterosexual adolescents, transgender adolescents showed ve times the risk of suicidal ideation and 7.6 times the risk of suicide attempt, according to a 2022 study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

“Gender-a rming care has been shown to improve mental health among transgender youth — in a Dutch study, rates of suicidal ideation among transgender adolescents receiving gender-a rming care were similar to those among their cisgender peers, whereas rates among transgender adolescents on the waiting list remained elevated,” the study notes.

Move ‘hypocritical,’ GOP says

In the email, Colorado’s GOP called Colorado Democrats “hypocritical,” pointing to the criticism Democrats had received this year for “silencing debate and stopping Colorado Republicans from representing the concerns of their constituents.”

On March 25, Democrats in the Colorado House used what’s known as Rule 14 to limit debate in the chamber for the rst time in at least a decade, e Colorado Sun reported.

Democrats went on to use Rule 14 more than a dozen times, according to state Rep. Anthony Hartsook, a Parker Republican, citing data tracked by the House GOP caucus, the Sun wrote.

Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, defended the decision to limit debate, the Sun wrote.

“We began to recognize what was happening in our chamber was no longer respectful and productive,” she has said. “Filibustering and delay tactics, by having bills read at length, is not why we were voted into o ce. We were voted into o ce to consider and debate policy. At the time we invoked House Rule 14, we wanted to drive more productive conversations.”