Proposition 134 passed with 52.66% of the vote. It bans biological males from competing on female athletic teams from kindergarten through college at any school receiving state funding. Colorado voters read it, understood it, and approved it.
Governor-elect Phil Weiser held a press conference and announced he'd be revisiting it.
Weiser, currently serving as Colorado's Attorney General, told reporters the legislature would need to make "adjustments" to the measure voters just approved. His words: "We're going to have to take a look at these anti-trans measures, and what adjustments are necessary and appropriate."
That's the sitting Attorney General — the man whose job is to uphold the law — publicly announcing his intent to water down a law before it takes effect. On camera. Days after the election.
The specifics of his objection are worth examining. Weiser claimed the proposition would require invasive physical examinations of student athletes. "I don't believe it would be acceptable to Colorado to have every student athlete have to go through full body examinations," he said. Proposition 134 requires teams to be designated male, female, or coeducational based on biological sex. It allows female athletes to compete on male teams when no equivalent female team exists. It does not mandate full-body examinations of anyone. Weiser's characterization is a ghost story designed to make a straightforward fairness measure sound like a civil rights violation.
The math makes the maneuver possible. Colorado Democrats didn't just win the governor's mansion — they secured supermajorities in both legislative chambers. Propositions 132, 133, 134, and 135 are statutory measures, not constitutional amendments. A simple majority vote in the legislature can rewrite or gut any of them. The supermajority means Republicans can't even slow the process down.
As RedState's Ward Clark noted, Weiser had telegraphed this move during the campaign, saying on the trail that Propositions 134 and 135 "would have to be addressed by the legislature" if voters approved them. He wasn't warning about implementation challenges. He was previewing the override.
The Adams County Republican Party captured the situation in a statement: "Before the ink on the ballots is even dry, Governor-elect Phil Weiser is already signaling that the vote of the people is merely a 'suggestion.'"
Lori Gimelshteyn, board director of Protect Kids Colorado — the organization behind Proposition 134 — put it plainly during the campaign: "This initiative is about fairness, and it's about safety, and it's about girls and keeping female athletics female."
Colorado is not the only state where this debate landed on the ballot. Four states voted on transgender sports measures this cycle. But Colorado is the only one where the governor-elect responded to a voter-approved measure by announcing plans to legislate around it within seventy-two hours.
The word "democracy" appeared in roughly four thousand Democratic campaign ads this cycle. The premise was always the same: voters decide, and their decisions are sacred. Proposition 134 received 52.66% support against 47.34% opposition. Clear majority. Unambiguous question on the ballot. No hanging chads, no contested margins.
Weiser's legislature can rewrite Proposition 134 with a simple majority vote. They have the seats. They have the will. They announced it on camera before the ballots were certified.
52.66% said yes. The answer was no.
