Denver proposal to limit gender-related data collection heads to committee review

Denver City Council committees are scheduled to review a proposal that would limit how city agencies collect, retain and share information about a person’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

The Budget and Policy Committee is scheduled to brief the proposal Sept. 14. The Health and Safety Committee is scheduled to hear 15 minutes of public testimony, discuss the measure and possibly take action Sept. 16, according to the committee agenda. The measure has not been adopted and would still require full City Council approval to become law.

Sponsored by Council Members Stacie Gilmore and Shontel Lewis, the proposal would apply to city departments, agencies, boards, commissions, officers, employees and contractors. It specifically addresses functions including law enforcement, human services, housing stability, court administration, probation, pretrial services and community corrections.

Under the proposed ordinance, covered agencies generally could not require the collection or dissemination of information about a person’s actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression unless the collection were required by law or needed for an “important city interest.” The proposal lists human services, health and behavioral health care, criminal justice, shelter management and grant administration as examples of such interests.

When covered information must be collected, the proposal would generally require its permanent destruction from city records after 30 days. Exceptions would cover information needed to comply with law or regulation, information governed by an existing records-retention schedule and information needed for an important city interest.

The measure would also restrict Denver’s use of city funds, resources and law-enforcement personnel to help another government or outside law-enforcement agency collect or disclose the information, discriminate on that basis or investigate people solely because of those characteristics. It would place related limits on some city contracts and on sharing program applications, intake information, census databases and technology-use agreements with outside law-enforcement agencies. Internal sharing among Denver agencies would remain allowed.

If enacted, the proposal would take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Within 90 days, affected agencies and departments would have to report to City Council what covered information they collect and maintain. Beginning in 2027, agencies would also submit annual compliance reports to the council’s Health and Safety Committee or an equivalent committee.

Supporters have described the measure as a safeguard against gender-related information being used by hostile governments or others to target transgender and gender-nonconforming people. In coverage of the proposal, attorney Ashley Cordero and advocate Z Williams said it was intended to respond to discrimination and potential use of the information in prosecutions or other actions against transgender people.