Parents in custody battles who misgender or “deadname” their child would be accused of “coercive control” under a new radical Colorado bill. The bill was introduced late Friday evening and on Tuesday it passed the Colorado Assembly’s Judiciary Committee in a 7-4 vote. It now heads to the Assembly floor for a second reading. The “Kelly Loving Act,” named for a trans-identifying man who was killed in the 2022 Colorado nightclub shooting, targets parents who do not affirm their child’s new gender identity. In child custody decisions, “a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control,” the bill reads. “Coercive control” also includes things like threatening to kill someone or forcing someone to commit crimes under Colorado law. The bill also bars Colorado courts from cooperating with other states’ laws that remove a child from their parent because the parent allowed the child to receive transgender medical services like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgery. The bill also says that school policies allowing children to use a different name must be “inclusive of all reasons that a student might adopt a chosen name.” Also, school dress codes must not “enforce any rules based on gender,” according to the bill. “Deadnaming” and “misgendering” would officially be “discriminatory acts” under Colorado law if the bill passes. State Rep. Jarvis Caldwell, a Republican, called attention to the bill on social media, saying lawmakers who oppose it were given “no time to analyze it” or coordinate testimony. This bill just got introduced late Friday evening & we just found out today it’s scheduled for Judiciary Committee TOMORROW. And it’s RADICAL. No time to analyze it. No time to coordinate testimony. No time to talk with stakeholders or constituents. #coleg #copolitics pic.twitter.com/YvWkJVghhq — Rep. Jarvis Caldwell (@RepCaldwell) April 1, 2025 Caldwell said the bill is likely to become law soon. Lori Gimelshteyn, executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network called the bill an “unconstitutional overreach that turns parenting—a sacred duty to guide and protect your child—into a punishable offense if it doesn’t align with the state’s agenda.” “This bill redefines love, conviction, and parenting as ‘coercive control’ — and that’s both dangerous and deeply wrong,” Gimelshteyn told The Daily Wire. “What kind of society are we becoming when a parent can lose custody of their child, not for abuse, neglect or endangerment, but for using the name they gave their child at birth?” Gimelshteyn spoke in formal opposition to the bill during Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing. Also speaking were two other women, Mia Hughes, senior researcher at Genspect, and Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, who spoke in her personal capacity. “There are consequences to lying to a child,” Hughes told lawmakers. “A parent telling their sweet, effeminate boy who likes Barbies and princess gowns that he can be a girl may solve his distress in the short term … but this is short-sighted.” Hughes explained that the data shows most children will desist and identity as their birth sex again, but this “natural process” is interrupted if a parent affirms the child’s cross-sex identity. “It’s easy to turn a little boy into a convincing girl just by putting him in a dress and giving him a girl’s name, but the illusion becomes unsustainable when testosterone begins to surge, so now he must medicalize,” she said, citing the often permanent harms of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital surgery. "What kind of society are we becoming when a parent can lose custody of their child, not for abuse, neglect or endangerment, but for using the name they gave their child at birth. That is what this bill enables…" Great testimony today from @LoriGim of @CPANColorado in… pic.twitter.com/rFmrnuoXFT — FreeStateColorado (@FreeStateColor1) April 2, 2025 "It’s easy to turn a little boy into a convincing girl just by putting him in a dress and giving him a girl’s name. But the illusion becomes unsustainable when testosterone begins to surge." My testimony earlier today in opposition to Colorado's completely insane HB25-1312. pic.twitter.com/6uk3W1iG6n — Mia Hughes (@_CryMiaRiver) April 2, 2025 My testimony against CO HB 25-1312. This committee is STILL going on. Despite more expert witnesses opposing than people supporting — this bill being unconstitutional — and costing tax payers $MILLIONS: I suspect it will pass. So we must keep fighting. Thank you to all who… pic.twitter.com/8W1pWxqAab — Erin for Parental Rights (@Erin4Parents) April 2, 2025 Lee said her sixth grade daughter was “secretly transitioned” at her school, convinced that her “normal pubescent discomfort” meant she was actually a transgender boy, and affirming her only caused her more mental distress. “If this law was in place four years ago when CPS came to my door for non-affirmation I would have lost my child,” she said. “Parents have long been bullied by the suicide myth: that you must transition your child or else they will kill themself. Now the state is adding to that: transition your child or else we will take them from you,” Lee told The Daily Wire. “This will harm so many fathers who are fighting their ex-spouses medicalizing their children against their will in Colorado. It fortifies our status as a wrong-sex mutilation sanctuary state, encouraging more people to move here and transition their children.” She said Democrats appear to be trying to quickly pass the bill before critics can mount a response. “Democrats are seemingly trying to pass this in the night, so quickly that we don’t have time to read the bill or organize testimony against it,” she added. “But with 24 hours notice, more expert witnesses showed up to oppose than people who showed up to support this bill yesterday.” Colorado parents who oppose their children’s transgender identities have found themselves in nightmare situations. Earlier this year, one Durango mother found the police would not help her retrieve her 17-year-old daughter from the house of her daughter’s former math teacher and trans-identifying husband, who had taken the girl into her home.

On Wednesday evening, a handful of Republicans in the Senate banded with Democrats and independents on Wednesday to pass a measure subverting the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on Canadian goods from earlier this year. The Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) that seeks to stop the national emergency declaration that President Donald Trump used for tariffs on Canada, citing illegal immigration and fentanyl. Despite the Senate rebuke, Kaine’s resolution faces long odds as it needs approval from the Republican-led House to go into effect — an unlikely prospect. In addition, Trump has indicated he would veto the resolution if it reached him. Senate Republicans who broke ranks in order to support Kaine’s resolution included Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Rand Paul (R-KY). Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) did not vote. “The Maine economy is integrated with Canada, our most important trading partner,” Collins said on the Senate floor, adding later: “The tariffs on Canada would be detrimental to many Maine families and our local economies.” Collins also noted she shared Trump’s goal of “stemming the tide of dangerous fentanyl that flows into the United States,” but insisted that “unlike Mexico and China” — two other countries targeted for tariffs — “Canada is not complicit in this crisis.” In an post on Truth Social before the vote, called out all four of the GOP defectors by name, urging them to reject a “ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans” and urged people in their states to call their senators. Trump contended that fentanyl was facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the United States and emphasized that Kaine’s resolution is “not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it.” Earlier this year, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on some imports from Canada, arguing the U.S. neighbor was not doing enough to curb the trafficking of drugs such as fentanyl. Canada said it would respond with 25% retaliatory tariffs. Those penalties against Canada preceded Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of reciprocal tariffs on dozens of other countries around the world during an event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon. When Kaine filed the resolution with Sens. Amy Klobucher (D-MN) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), he said the measure was privileged, meaning the Republican-controlled Senate was required to vote on it in the coming weeks. They argued that tariffs against Canada have disrupted the United States economy in a way that raises costs for American consumers, harms workers and businesses, strains a key trade partnership, and ignites a destructive trade war. On the GOP side, McConnell warned of higher costs and Kentucky industries being harmed, Paul objected to the use of emergency authority, and Murkowski pondered why the U.S. was “fighting” Canada while “making nice” with Russia. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) declared in a statement after the vote on Wednesday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) already declared Kaine’s resolution dead on arrival in the House and it will never reach Trump’s desk. Kaine’s “goal” was “to undermine President Trump’s successful work to secure the Northern Border,” he said, adding, “This meaningless messaging resolution will not stop Senate Republicans from making America’s communities safer.”

In the first full month after Kash Patel was confirmed as FBI director on February 20, the FBI received a record number of new agent applications. 5,577 new applications were filed in March, after 2023 saw a monthly average of 2,797 applications, and 2024’s monthly average was 3,383. The most recent month that saw a number approximating March was April 2016, when  5,283 applications were filed, Fox News reported. “Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital. “These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction.” “The record number of FBI job applications in March shows that people are inspired by Kash Patel’s commitment to restoring integrity and effectiveness at the bureau,” Patel advisor Erica Knight added. “Americans are putting their trust in his leadership to rebuild the FBI and keep our communities safe. … this is just the beginning. Kash is dedicated to creating a stronger, more trusted FBI that serves the American people the way it was always meant to,” Knight said. In May 2024, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to the FBI regarding its emphasis on DEI in hiring and the recruiting fallout from it. He stated: On Inauguration Day, President Biden issued his first Executive Order promulgating DEI programs within the whole of Executive Branch. A few months later, on April 21, 2021, you announced the hiring of the FBI’s first Chief Diversity Officer, Scott McMillon. From that time forward, we understand that the FBI has struggled with attracting enough qualified applicants from all desired target groups to sustain its mission. This is likely due to the FBI re-focusing its recruitment efforts on DEI statistics.  In October 2023, a group of retired FBI Special Agents and Analysts, many of whom held senior positions of trust and authority within the FBI, authored a report detailing ‘alarming trends’ in the FBI’s recruitment and selection process. The detailed, 112-page report highlighted several troubling findings, including that: “The law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading because the FBI is no longer hiring ‘the best and brightest’ candidates to fill the position of Special Agent of the FBI. … An increasing number of lower quality candidates — described by one source as ‘bread crumbs’ because they were rejected by other federal law enforcement agencies — are applying to become FBI Special Agents; and the FBI is selecting those candidates to become FBI Special Agents because they satisfy the FBI’s priority to meet Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) mandates …  The FBI’s Special Agent hiring numbers are down, likely due to the decline in the Nation’s trust in the FBI and a corresponding decrease in the number of individuals interested in applying to the FBI for employment.” 

A female fencer is speaking out after she was disqualified from a tournament in Maryland for taking a knee and refusing to compete against a transgender-identifying male opponent. Stephanie Turner, 31, was black-carded and booted from a tournament this past weekend for refusing to compete against Redmond Sullivan, who is male and identifies as transgender. Sullivan formerly competed against males and was permitted by USA Fencing to compete in the women’s tournament, the organization confirmed to The Daily Wire. “I want to thank God for trusting me with this mission to fight for female exclusive sports and putting me in a place to effectively protest,” Turner told The Daily Wire in a statement. “I also want to add that I am grateful to the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) for their encouragement and support,” she added. “They have helped me and so many other women who have been put in this unfair and confusing situation.” ICONS on Wednesday posted video of Turner’s protest, which quickly went viral on X. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Turner explained that she did not know Sullivan was in the same tournament, and tries to steer clear of competitions that allow males. The night before the bout, though, she recalled seeing that she was facing Redmond, a male. “From there I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it. I’m going to take the knee,” Turner said. “I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women’s objections regarding [its gender eligibility policy].” Turner said that when she took a knee, Redmond, out of confusion, confronted her, and eventually told Turner that he has support from the organization. “Redmond was under the impression that I was going to start fencing,” Turner recalled. “So when I took the knee, I looked at the ref and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women’s tournament. And I will not fence this individual.'” “Redmond didn’t hear me, and he comes up to me, and he thinks that I may be hurt, or he doesn’t understand what’s happening. He asks, ‘Are you okay?’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry. I have much love and respect for you, but I will not fence you,'” she continued. “Redmond says to me, ‘Well you know, there is a member on the board of directors here who supports me, and there is a policy that acknowledges me as a woman, so I am allowed to fence, and you will get black-carded,’ and I said, ‘I know.'” Turner said when she found out she was facing off against Redmond, she knew she had to “give it to God.” “If this person shows up to my event and is on my script, then I would take a knee, and that would be God’s will,'” she added. Related: VIDEO: Female Fencer Booted From Tournament After Refusing To Compete Against Male Opponent

Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum appeared to lose her patience with Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) during a Wednesday interview on “The Story,” calling him out directly for refusing to acknowledge the massive amounts of fraud, waste, and abuse that have been uncovered by the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE). MacCallum asked Coons for his reaction to the numbers that DOGE has been putting out since its inception — particularly with regard to Social Security — and the Delaware Democrat repeatedly attempted to downplay the DOGE team’s findings and dismiss them as just a “small percentage” of the federal government’s budget. WATCH: "You can't just put your fingers in your ear and going 'blah blah blah, it's not happening!'" Things get HEATED when Fox News’ Martha McCallum calls out Sen. Chris Coons for ignoring the waste, fraud, and abuse found by DOGE. pic.twitter.com/DVopEYRakU — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 2, 2025 “Were you as shocked as I was when you heard some of that — some of those numbers, some of the information about how much fraud is happening in Social Security, Senator?” MacCallum asked Coons about the DOGE findings thus far. “So, Martha, not only do I not believe some of what was just shared there, but the Trump administration’s acting administrator of Social Security has said that less than one-tenth of one percent of the payments put out by the Social Security administration are fraudulent or in error,” Coons protested. What he did not mention was the fact that Social Security is projected to pay out some $1.6 trillion in 2025 alone, making even one-tenth of one percent a pretty hefty sum. Coons then tried to turn the conversation back on billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, saying that he was “alarmed” that the DOGE team could potentially have access to information on millions of Americans. “Elon Musk has made it clear that he thinks Social Security is a Ponzi scheme,” he said. “A Ponzi scheme is itself fraudulent, fake, criminal, or illegal. I don’t think Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. I think 70 million Americans depend on it for their principal source of income.” “Too bad, because in ten years —” MacCallum referenced the increasing likelihood that Social Security would be insolvent within a decade. “Let me ask you a question, Senator. Let me ask you a question. You’ve made a lot of points, let me ask you a question,” MacCallum tried to break through as Coons continued his rant. “You say all those millions of people depend on Social Security, so you don’t care about the ones that are going to never get it because it’s going to be insolvent in ten years. What have Democrats done? What did Joe Biden’s administration do to find the waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security to try to shore up this important agency? What did they do? Can you tell me?” “Sure,” Coons agreed. “Martha, you are presuming widespread waste, fraud, and abuse in Social Security. You haven’t offered any credible evidence to support that. I don’t believe what DOGE says about virtually any federal agency.” The interview continued in that same tone until MacCallum finally called Coons out directly: “I don’t know why you don’t want to hear it! It’s like — you can’t just put your fingers in your ear and go ‘blah blah blah,’ like it’s not happening!”