Senate committee advances bill allowing death certificates to reflect gender identity after brief public testimony

A Colorado Senate committee advanced House Bill 11-09 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation after testimony both supporting and opposing the measure.

The bill sponsor (unnamed in the transcript) told the committee that HB 11-09 would allow death certificates to ‘‘properly match the gender identity of those who pass away in our state’’ and described the bill’s structure as setting definitions, adding provisions to existing death-certificate law, directing limited system programming that the sponsor said could be done at no cost, and making a conforming statutory amendment. The sponsor said the bill seeks to make an official record reflect "the life that somebody lived on our earth."

Supporters said the bill is about dignity and respect for transgender and nonbinary Coloradans. Marty Moore, who identified himself as a lifelong Coloradan representing Northern Colorado, said, "Today,…