Logo for InfluenceWatch InfluenceWatch

Donate
Non-profit

Colorado Parent Advocacy Network

Website:

coloradoparents.org
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)
Formation:

2022
Executive Director:

Lori Gimelshteyn

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network is an advocacy coalition that contends that parents are the primary authority in their children’s lives across education, and health care. 1 The organization is involved in state legislative action, advocacy, and litigation on issues regarding children and families. 1  It opposes controversial LGBT- and sexuality-themed materials in schools, 2 challenged policies that allow schools to hide student gender transitions from parents, 3  and has sued to block a Colorado state law that the group claims will chill speech critical of gender transition ideology. 4

Lori Gimelshteyn is the executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network. 5

Background

The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network is a network of parents, educators, and citizens that contends parents are the primary authority in their children’s lives across education, health care, and other areas of upbringing. The network is a 501(c)(4) organization, which allows it to advocate for and against public policy. 1

Lori Gimelshteyn is the executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network. 5

CPAN promotes school transparency and accountability, parental rights, and a non-political educational experience. CPAN supports families in education, health care, and government systems. 1

The organization provides informational classes and resources for parents, educators, and community members, and provides mentorship for launching local advocacy groups. 1

The organization provides guidance to parents such as clarifying the values of the family and having conversations about potentially hearing different values at school, discussing biological truths, and privacy concerns. 6

Founding

The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network launched in November 2022 at an event in Douglas County, Colorado. At the event, the network recognized Douglas County School District Superintendent Erin Kane with an award, along with right-of-center radio hosts Deborah Flora and Kim Monson, and Pam Benigno, the director of the Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center. 7

Advocacy

School Library Books

In October 2023, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network teamed with TPUSA Faith (which is aligned with Turning Point USA) to object to LGBT-themed books in school libraries at the Cherry Creek School District board, which the organizations contended were functionally pornographic. 2

Superintendent Christopher Smith said the assertions constitute a “misinformation campaign.” He said only “age-appropriate materials” were in school libraries. Libs of TikTok first reported that the books Gender Queer and All Boys Aren’t Blue were available to Cherry Creek Schools elementary students. School officials said it did not have All Boys Aren’t Blue, but did have Gender Queer in high school. 2

Gender Transitions in Schools

In 2023, Lori Gimelshteyn, the executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, posed as a nine-year-old to text a state crisis hotline that was promoted by public schools. She wrote, “i think i am trans but don’t want anyone tonknow [sic].” The hotline personnel texted back, and offered to “help to explore your gender identity on your own terms before discussing with others.” The texter on the other end asked Gimelshteyn if her gender identity “brought up any thoughts of killing yourself?” The texter also promised the messages wouldn’t be seen by the parents. The texter on the other end shared a link to the Trevor Project, an LGBT advocacy group, to give the supposed nine-year-old more resources. Two other CPAN members posed as sad or bullied 11-year-olds in text messages to the hotline and received similar responses. 8

In 2024, CPAN supported the proposed Measure 142 that would require schools to inform parents if their child was transgender. 3  The measure did not qualify for the ballot. 9

In 2024, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network gathered 335 signatures in just six hours on a petition to delay the Douglas County Board of Education’s vote on a proposal to classify female-only spaces, such as restrooms, as discriminatory. 5

In 2025, CPAN advocated on behalf of Cynthia Stein, whose teen daughter, who identifies as a boy, left home to live with a former math teacher JoAnn Smotherman, and the teacher’s transgender spouse, Vivian Smotherman, who had been an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for state Senate. 10

Kelly Loving Act Litigation

In May 2025, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network was among five plaintiffs to sue the state of Colorado over the passage of House Bill 25-1312, known as the Kelly Loving Act, regarding gender discrimination. Joining CPAN in the lawsuit were Defending Education, Protect Kids Colorado, Do No Harm, and Travis Morrell. The law protects gender identity and gender expression under the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act, and would make it a “discriminatory practice” under Colorado law to refer to transgender-identifying individuals by their birth name or to use pronouns consistent with their natal sex instead of their preferred pronouns in a place of public accommodation. The plaintiffs allege the law is a violation of the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment. 4

The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network publishes materials about individuals “using biologically accurate pronouns and other gendered terms.” The lawsuit says the new law will make it impossible for CPAN to “effectively exercise their constitutionally protected right to speak in a manner that reflects their sincere belief that sex is immutable and fixed at birth.” 11

Lawyers for the litigants argued, “The purpose of H.B. 25-1312 is clear. The law punishes those who refuse to speak using chosen names and pronouns, and it does so in order to suppress traditional beliefs about sex and gender. In other words, the law openly discriminates based on viewpoint.” 11

References

  1. Colorado Parent Advocacy Network. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://coloradoparents.org/
  2. Shaw, Tyler. “Turning Point USA, Colorado Parent Advocacy Network raise concerns about books in Cherry Creek Schools.” Colorado Community Media. October 13, 2023. Accessed July 4, 2025. https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/2023/10/13/turning-point-usa-colorado-parent-advocacy-network-raise-concerns-about-books-in-cherry-creek-schools/
  3. Villarreal, Daniel. “Colorado allows anti-LGBTQ+ group to pursue law outing trans students to parents.” LGBTQ Nation. April 25, 2024. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/colorado-allows-anti-lgbtq-group-to-pursue-law-outing-trans-students-to-parents/
  4. Press Release. “Defending Education Files Joint Lawsuit Against Colorado State Over New ‘Anti-Discrimination’ Law.” Defending Education. May 19, 2025. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://defendinged.org/lawsuits/defending-education-files-joint-lawsuit-against-colorado-state-over-new-anti-discrimination-law/
  5. Mitchell, Elizabeth Troutman. “Objections From Parental Rights Group Derails Vote on School District’s Trans Policy.” The Daily Signal. June 24, 2024. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/06/24/parental-rights-group-delays-vote-colorado-transgender-policy/
  6. “Guidance for Parents.” Colorado Parent Advocacy Network. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yWJEdsFRHk7Et4MNNFKdQ7qGmxBY_QHb/view
  7. Beedle, Heidi. “A New Conservative Group Uses Anti-LGBTQ Sentiment to Attack Colorado Public Schools.” Colorado Times. December 1, 2022. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2022/12/a-new-conservative-group-uses-anti-lgbtq-sentiment-to-attack-colorado-public-schools/50763/
  8. Fox News. ” Mom who posed as child to text student crisis line ‘sickened’ by responses.” New York Post. November 10, 2023. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://nypost.com/2023/11/10/lifestyle/mom-posed-as-child-to-text-student-crisis-line/
  9. “Colorado Gender Incongruence Notifications from Schools Initiative (2024).” Ballotpedia. Accessed July 22, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Gender_Incongruence_Notifications_from_Schools_Initiative_(2024).  
  10. Elrodi, Mairead. “LGBT Activist Teacher, Trans Husband House Minor Teen Girl In Colorado Against Mom’s Wishes.” The Daily Wire. March 25, 2025. Accessed July 4, 2025. https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-lgbt-activist-teacher-trans-husband-house-minor-teen-girl-against-moms-wishes?topStoryPosition=undefined
  11. Kamman, Samantha. “Colorado’s new trans law ‘punishes’ those who disagree, ‘compels’ speech: lawsuit.” Christian Post. May 20, 2025. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.christianpost.com/news/colorados-new-trans-law-punishes-those-who-disagree-lawsuit.html
  See an error? Let us know!