Two bills to allow individuals, including minors, to choose their names conforming to their gender identity are on hold after an intense debate in the House on Monday delayed voting on the measures. 

Under current law, a person convicted of a felony who wants to change their name must show “good cause.” House Bill 1071 would add gender identity to the list of “good causes” a person could cite for a name change.

The bill has drawn fierce opposition from House Republicans, which got underway on Monday with an amendment from sponsor Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, to name the bill after a transgender woman, Tiara Latrice Kelley, a drag queen and performer at Club Q.

Kelley has gone by at least three other names, two female and one male name before her transition. 

Kelley, a former sex worker in Florida, has a criminal history in that state. Still, it’s a history that House Democrats won’t talk about or until Monday allow their Republican counterparts to identify. 

Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, has attempted at least twice to talk about Kelley’s criminal history but was denied on Friday. He tried again on Monday.

House Speaker Julie McCluskie cautioned him and other lawmakers not to use Kelley’s birth name as a sign of respect. McCluskie told Bottoms to use Kelley’s female name and not to refer her to as a man — which activists describing as “deadnaming.”

He did it anyway and was gaveled by the speaker and ordered to leave the House podium.

Republicans complained that a legislative bill should not be named after a convicted felon. That drew Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, to the microphone to point out the history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was arrested multiple times for civil rights activism. He has a holiday named after him, Herod told her colleagues.

After more than an hour of contentious debate on the amendment, Majority Leader Monica Duran invoked a House rule to require a vote on the amendment without further debate.

The vote on the amendment failed on a 31 to 28 vote, with 10 Democrats siding with Republicans to vote against it. Any vote must have at least 33 lawmakers in favor, even if some are absent or excused. 

The rest of the day’s calendar was laid over, including a final vote on the bill.

A second measure, which would allow school students to use names other than their given names, is also on the calendar for a third vote, but the House did not bring it up.

The House approved, on a party-line vote, a measure tied to the rights of youth in juvenile correction facilities, including access to “gender-affirming care,” which includes social, psychological or medical interventions for transgender individuals, such as hormone therapy and surgical procedures.

Republicans said they would vote for the bill if it did not include that provision.

The bill passed on a 44-16 vote.

The bills laid over on Monday could be back on the voting calendar Tuesday.

Editor’s note: The story has been corrected to show the vote on HB 1170.