Colorado has
always seemed right on the precipice of enacting pro-LGBT legislation, and then
they pull back, out of fear, or out of loathing. And the same holds true today.
A bill to allow
civil unions for gay couples in Colorado needs to survive two more votes in the
GOP-led House before it gets to the governor’s desk, but it appears closer than
in any other year to becoming law.
Teetering on said
precipice.
If the legislation
passes, Colorado would join more than a dozen states that allow gay marriage or
civil unions. Hawaii and Delaware began allowing civil unions earlier this
year.
Of course, Civil
Unions, like Domestic Partnerships, are really just Marriage-lite. While they
allow lesbian and gay couple some rights that are similar to marriage, they aren't full marriage
equality. But, this is a big step for gun-shy Colorado.
So far Colorado
Democrats have been able to advance the bill past two GOP-led House committees,
with the Finance Committee approving the measure last Friday with a 7-6 vote;
it passed the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday.
Republican
Representative Don Beezley, the only Republican to support the
measure on the finance panel, said, “For
me, it really came down to that basic issue of fairness and doing the right
thing.”
The right thing.
The bill now goes
before the Appropriations Committee where the Democrats, of course, fully
support its passage; but they'll need at least one Republican to vote yes for
it to go to the full House. And that lone Republican just might be
Representative Cheri Gerou who has previously said she supports a Civil
Unions bill.
And
while Republicans have a 33-32 vote advantage in the House, given the
committee votes, where Republicans joined Democrats, the bill could have enough
support for passage.
Mark Ferrandino,
a Democrat and gay lawmaker, who sponsored the bill, says, “I’m very
excited. We're one step closer today than we were yesterday, and yesterday we
were one step closer than we’ve ever been.”
The Colorado
Senate has already approved the bill, and, if the house passes it, it could
reach the desk of Governor John Hickenlooper by Wednesday; Hickenlooper says he
fully supports the bill.
Right on the
precipice.
Hopefully, this
time, Colorado will take that leap toward equality.
me too
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