The far-right-funded anti-gay activist group Gays Against Groomers is suing five Democrats in the Colorado legislature for impeding what they call their right to deadname and misgender trans people in public testimony.
Gays Against Groomers and Rocky Mountain Women’s Network are represented in the suit by the Institute for Free Speech. The institute described “actions to suppress and chill speech” during recent hearings on Tiara’s Law as “an alarming assault on First Amendment rights.”
Tiara’s Law is named for Tiara Latrice Kelley, a trans woman convicted of felonies related to being a sex worker. Tiara’s Law would ease the path to name changes on official documents for convicted felons.
The lawsuit names Colorado State Representatives Lorena Garcia, Mike Weissman, Leslie Herod, and state Senators Julie Gonzales and Dafna Michaelson Jenet — all Democrats — as having unlawfully restricted or chilled speech related to trans issues, particularly as it pertains to Tiara’s Law.
The lawmaker defendants “have prescribed how critics of transgenderism must present their views during the public-testimony portion of committee hearings before the Colorado Legislature by prohibiting ‘misgendering’ or ‘deadnaming’ and otherwise requiring citizens to express fealty to transgender ideology under the guise of ‘civility’ or ‘decorum,’” plaintiffs claim in the suit.
Sen. Gonzalez warned committee members and witnesses while introducing HB23-1071 to the House Judiciary Committee to avoid “using derogatory language or misgendering witnesses or using a witness’ deadname.”
Rep. Garcia, as well, urged speakers to engage in “respectful discourse” by refraining from using “derogatory language” or “misgendering witnesses.”
Committee Chair Weissman formalized those remarks as rules for the hearing.
The proceeding turned acrimonious when two of the plaintiffs, Rich Guggenheim, Colorado State Chapter Leader of Gays Against Groomers, and Christina Goeke of the Rocky Mountain Women’s Network, ignored the chair’s instructions and continually deadnamed and misgendered Kelley.
When asked not to discuss specific individuals, Goeke responded, “The bill is literally named after him,” referring to the Tiara’s Law namesake.
After repeated warnings, both Goeke and Guggenheim’s testimony was cut short. Nevertheless, Tiara’s Law passed the Senate and now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.
According to the complaint, “The effects of defendants’ censorial customs, policies, and practices are experienced by plaintiffs in Colorado where plaintiffs wish to speak freely, petition, be free from compelled speech, truthfully state their opinions opposing trans ideology and sex nullification, and freely discuss individuals for whom bills are named and whose life stories are invoked to support legislation.”
In requiring speakers to follow a so-called “pronoun ritual,” the suit argues, “the defendants — Colorado Legislators and proponents of transgender ideology — are abusing their authority to put a thumb on the scale of the public’s debate about transgenderism.”
Political operative Jaimee Michell founded Gays Against Groomers in 2022. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the group “one of the most notable propagators of anti-trans rhetoric.” It claims to oppose the “sexualization and indoctrination of children,” which largely means opposing transgender-inclusive social policies, LGBTQ+ content in schools, and all-ages drag performances.
In February, Media Matters published a report titled “Grifter Gays” detailing the lie that Gays Against Groomers is a grassroots organization, identifying founder Michell and her fellow co-chair David Leatherwood as longtime conspiracy-peddling pro-Trump operatives with deep ties to the likes of Trump-whisperer Roger Stone and “Stop the Steal” founder Ali Alexander, another gay man who says he is “battling with same-sex attraction.”
