27 Colorado Democrats Vote Against Making Indecent Exposure to Minors a Class 6 Felony
On Saturday, Colorado House Democrats voted against making indecent exposure to minors a class 6 felony, placing perpetrators above victims.
The purpose of the proposed legislation “HB23-1135: Penalty for Indecent Exposure in View of Minors” is to revise the current criminal code to clarify the circumstances under which indecent exposure to a minor constitutes a serious crime. The existing legislation states that two separate offenses must have been committed in order for the act to be constituted a crime.
One Democrat said that the bill was “targeting” the transgender community in her dissent.
“These types of laws have been used to ban drag shows, to target individuals who use the restroom of the sex that they identify with—a public restroom—to charge them with felony charges. I am very concerned about the attacks against the transgender community that are happening across the country,” said State Representative Leslie Herod.
“When I initially read this bill, it did not even come to mind for me, either, as an advocate—but as I’ve looked at the bills, and as I’ve talked to my colleagues who are fighting these types of bills across the country, it’s very clear to me that the language is very much mirrored in some of the laws that have been used to target members of our community because of who they are,” Herod added.