Woodland Park school board to vote on whether to recognize “only two sexes,” reject “gender ideology”

The school board overseeing Colorado’s Woodland Park School District is expected to vote Wednesday evening on a resolution that would recognize “only two sexes” — a move that comes as President Donald Trump has broadly rolled back protections for transgender people in the first two weeks of his second administration.

A copy of the proposed resolution was not posted online with the board’s agenda, but the measure’s title — “Recognizing Only Two Sexes and Rejecting Gender Ideology” — was enough to ignite concern among at least one LGBTQ youth advocacy group in Colorado.

“It is going to send a very clear message to trans youth that their school district doesn’t see or respect them,” said Ollie Glessner, spokesperson for Inside Out Youth Services in Colorado Springs.

A spokesperson for the Woodland Park School District didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Denver Post on Wednesday. Neither did Board of Education President Mick Bates, whose name is attached to the resolution on Wednesday’s agenda.

Woodland Park is a small district located in Teller County northwest of Colorado Springs and has 1,844 students, according to the latest enrollment data from the Colorado Department of Education.

The district garnered national attention in recent years after a conservative majority on the school board hired a new superintendent and adopted a social studies standard that was created by a right-wing advocacy group.

The board’s vote on the gender resolution comes a week after Trump signed an executive order declaring that the federal government would only recognize two sexes: male and female.

Conservative groups such as the American Family Association praised the change as one that acknowledges the truth. But experts with the American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association hold that gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting only of males and females.

Since taking office, Trump has taken other steps to roll back protections for transgender people, including signing an executive order Wednesday that directs the secretary of education to create a plan to eliminate federal funding for “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.”

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is also investigating Denver Public Schools for “discriminating against its female students” by converting a girls restroom into a gender-neutral bathroom at East High School.

One of the best ways to support transgender students is to affirm and respect them, Glessner said, noting that a 2024 survey by the Trevor Project found that transgender and nonbinary youth had lower rates of suicide attempts when they found their schools were gender-affirming.

“It’s another bullying tactic,” said parent Allison Avery-Wollenhaupt, whose child attends Columbine Elementary in Woodland Park, of the resolution being considered by the board.

“They’re just creating a climate that makes these kids not feel safe and welcomed in their community and free to be who they are, and I just think that’s really sad that adults in power are doing that,” she added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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