Four of the five initiatives on which the bishops opined concerned LGBTQ+ equality.
The bishops’ mid-June letter concerns “ballot proposals that will undermine the sanctity of life, the family and religious liberty,” and it is broken into two parts: 1) the two ballot initiatives Catholics should oppose; 2) three initiatives the faithful should support.
The bishops who signed are Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, Bishop Jorge Rodríguez, auxiliary of Denver, Bishop Stephen Berg of Pueblo, and Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs, representing the three dioceses which make up the state of Colorado.
The bishops ask Catholics to oppose one proposal concerning reproductive rights and one which addresses marriage equality. The first proposal would affirm reproductive autonomy in the state constitution. The second proposal, already approved by Colorado legislators this spring, would remove language from the state’s constitution defining marriage in heterosexual terms and will be on the November ballot.
The bishops claim that “these are the two most important issues for faithful Catholics to oppose on the November 2024 Colorado ballot,” so “[i]t is therefore important that Catholics research each issue and form their conscience before signing a ballot petition.”
Moving from opposition to support, the bishops then identify three ballot initiatives which still need the requisite number of voter signatures to be included in this fall’s election. The letter’s authors explain that these initiatives would “affirm Church teaching on parental rights and the dignity of children” and so “The Bishops of Colorado support these initiatives.”
Initiative 142 would force educators at public schools to out gender-diverse students to their parents “within 48 hours,” which the bishop claims would “protect parents from government overreach.”
This initiative would roll back Colorado legislation that empowers LGBTQ+ students to self-identify in schools without outside interference.
Initiative 160 would exclude transgender people from girl’s sports. On this issue, the bishops rely on false claims that having trans athletes imperils other students.
Initiative 138 would expand “school choice” for students, diverting taxpayer funding from public schools to private institutions, like Catholic schools. Colorado’s legislators have opposed this option.
Currently, the Archdiocese of Denver and two of its parishes are involved in litigation around this issue.
The entities sued state officials charged with implementing a universal preschool program because recipients of funding for the program must abide by non-discrimination protections.
The most recent court ruling found the church entities could discriminate based on religion, but not based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
As the Colorado Times Reporter explained, the state’s bishops have a losing record in their deep involvement with ballot initiatives.
The outlet explained that church leaders “put their weight behind multiple conservative ballot initiatives in the past, most of which failed.”
The reality is that in 2024, the bishops are likely to fail once again as Colorado voters seem ready to preserve marriage equality, expand reproductive autonomy, and reject anti-transgender efforts.6
But church leaders have already caused harm by sending negative messages to LGBTQ+ people.