CatholicVote received the Strategic Alliance Partner Award from Protect Kids Colorado on May 7 for its leading role in helping qualify three child-protection initiatives for Colorado’s November 2026 ballot.
Patty McKernan, a board member of Protect Kids Colorado, announced the award during the group’s volunteer celebration event. It was accepted by CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt. As Zeale News previously reported, CatholicVote partnered with the organization during the petition phase, holding public signing events and working with Catholic parishes across the state to gather the nearly 125,000 signatures required for each initiative to be placed on the ballot.
Protect Kids Colorado Executive Director Erin Lee used the evening to preview the next phase: building voter support ahead of the November election.
The three initiatives focus on child trafficking, protecting girls in school sports, and medical procedures involving minors.
The measures are the following:
Initiative 108: Penalties for Trafficking of a Human Minor, which would toughen criminal penalties for trafficking children, including by raising the maximum punishment to life in prison without parole or release.
Initiative 109: Concerning Male and Female Participation in School Sports, which recognizes that males and females have “unique and immutable biological differences” and requires school athletic teams to be classified as either male, female, or co-ed.
Initiative 110: Prohibiting Surgery for Minors for the Purpose of Altering the Minor’s Biological Sex Characteristics, which would establish protections preventing medical providers from performing or prescribing surgeries meant to alter a child’s sexual characteristics. It would also ensure state and federal funds are not used for those procedures.
CatholicVote will continue working with McKernan to help build statewide support for the measures ahead of the November election.