Quiet Republicans quash Colorado civil unions bill

During an emotional eight-hour hearing on same-sex civil unions at the capitol in Denver Thursday, a long list of witnesses on both sides of the issue told emotional stories of life as gay and transgender Americans. More than a few wept as they talked about shame, discrimination and systemic bias. Others quoting scripture warned of the end times the bill would surely hasten unto the Centennial State should it pass. The five committee Democrats took turns agreeing and disagreeing with witnesses, debating theology, Constitutional history and the horrors of the Jim Crow South and the Holocaust. The six members of the majority bloc Republicans on the committee, however, had little to say. They watched and listened and, without really elaborating their positions, voted as a bloc against sending the legislation to the full House for debate and a vote. They stone-cold killed the bill.

Troy Ard, College Republicans Chair, throws support behind Colorado civil unions bill

Openly gay Chairman of the Colorado Federation of College Republicans Troy Ard is lobbying colleagues and friends to support Senator Pat Steadman’s same-sex civil unions bill making its way through the state legislature. Ard’s support for the bill is personal, political and ideological. He wants to enjoy equal rights under the law as a gay American; he believes the Republican brand would benefit enormously by embracing gay rights; and he believes Americans should always be pushing their government to expand individual liberties.

Three: The number of Colorado Republican House members on record so far as favorable to passing civil unions bill

It’s not exactly a tidal wave. But the three Republican members of the House who have gone on record as supportive of state Senator Pat Steadman’s civil unions bill suggests Democratic House sponsor Mark Ferrandino is right to be confident that the bill will pass if it could somehow climb over likely House committee hurdles.

Polis to co-sponsor bill overturning federal ban on same-sex marriage

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis has signed on as a lead co-sponsor of legislation that will be introduced next week to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage exclusively as the union between one man and one…

Ferrandino: Court decision upholding California’s Prop 8 ‘a blip’ in progress

A state lawmaker who has sponsored bills expanding civil rights for gay couples in Colorado said Tuesday afternoon he wasn’t surprised California’s Supreme Court upheld a ballot measure banning gay marriage but called the decision “a blip” in the country’s advances toward equality.

State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat and the first openly gay man to sit in the Colorado legislature, said he expects California voters to go back to the polls to overturn Proposition 8, which passed last fall with 52 percent of the vote.

Ferrandino applauds Iowa marriage ruling: ‘Equal rights for everyone’

Colorado state Rep. Mark Ferrandino praised the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that overturned a state law there banning same-sex marriage.

‘Personhood’ author inspires man to push for gay marriage amendment

A 23-year-old Lakewood man who plans to meet with legislative staff Tuesday to review his proposed ballot measure to allow gay marriage in Colorado says he was inspired by 20-year-old Kristi Burton, who sponsored the controversial “personhood amendment” on last year’s ballot, Lynn Bartels reports in the Rocky Mountain News. “I don’t think there should be gender-specific laws when it comes to marriage in Colorado — or anywhere,” golf club salesman Stu Allen told Bartels.

Big Money Raised in Colorado Over Gay Marriage Amendment

A new report from the non-partisan National Institute on Money in State Politics examines the money behind the 2006 state-level constitutional amendments banning gay marriage including Amendment 43 in Colorado, which was approved by 55 percent of voters.

The…

Ref. I Results Across Counties

Colorado voters might have given Democrats control of congress, but that doesn’t mean they support equal rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Despite the passage of Amendment 43, which will constitutionally define marriage as strictly between a man and…

A New Dawn Breaks For Pastor Ted

Today reporters caught up with Pastor Ted Haggard pulling out of the driveway of his home with his wife Gayle and three children. (All told he has five.)

Turns out, Haggard said, he did happen to buy some methamphetamine…