(WND News Center) Dozens of Colorado Democrats in that state’s legislature have voted against making indecent exposure to minors a felony, claiming such laws are used to crack down on drag shows.

?? 27 DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST MAKING INDECENT EXPOSURE TO MINORS A CLASS 6 FELONY!

A Democrat attacked the bill for “targeting” the transgender community in her dissent. #copolitics #coleg

?BILL: https://t.co/Lgle6vX25U

?Listen for yourself: pic.twitter.com/Tq9wiryLMu

— Colorado House Republicans (@COHouseGOP) April 29, 2023

Social media was not nice to the party, with comments including, “Party of pedos” and “EVIL INC.”

Yet another comment was, “So this is an admission that drag shows may involve indecent exposure to minors. How else could it be seen as targeting them?”

A report published in the Post Millennial said the Colorado House voted over the weekend on HB23-1135, which would increase the punishment for indecent exposure in front of a minor to a class 6 felony.

“And 27 Democrats voted against the bill, with one saying she was concerned it would lead to the ban of drag shows,” the report explained.

It was state Rep. Leslie Herod who claimed, “These types of laws have been used to ban drag shows, to target individuals who use the restroom of the sex that they identify with—a public restroom—to charge them with felony charges. I am very concerned about the attacks against the transgender community that are happening across the country.”

She continued, “When I initially read this bill, it did not even come to mind for me, either, as an advocate—but as I’ve looked at the bills, and as I’ve talked to my colleagues who are fighting these types of bills across the country, it’s very clear to me that the language is very much mirrored in some of the laws that have been used to target members of our community because of who they are.”

Colorado House Republicans posted a notification that the bill eventually did pass, with amendments, with 37 votes in support from the legislative body.

WND is now on Trump’s Truth Social! Follow us @WNDNews

The current law classifies a first offense of indecent exposure to a minor a class 1 misdemeanor.

Roger D. Hudson, the deputy chief of staff for the Colorado House GOP, explained that the day before the vote, Colorado House Democrats “filibustered for nearly three hours … AGAINST felonizing #IndecentExposure to minors.”

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].