Colorado: A Step in the Right Direction

I am from Colorado as well. Civil unions are not the end goal (that being, of course, universal marriage equality), but it is indeed a "step in the right direction". If it passes, that is...the bill could yet be stymied. It completed the final committee hurdles today, but unless it is debated and voted on in the House by midnight tonight (four hours from now), the whole thing will be off the table until next year! Don't ask me why state politics have such stringent, arbitrary deadlines...I don't understand it. But that's how it is apparently.

There is also fear that Republicans opposing the bill will keep adding amendments exempting religious organizations and mental health providers from treating civil union partners equally. These cynical amendments might encourage Democrats to delay the vote, thereby stopping any progress this year.

How this all plays out, we will see very shortly.

It will be immensely frustrating if procedural delay tactics derail this thing. But regardless, those of us gay Coloradans and our allies can be encouraged by the rapid support for LGBT rights here. Only six years ago, Colorado voters banned both gay marriage and domestic partnerships. Today, a healthy majority of citizens polled support the civil unions bill (62% to 32%), and even marriage equality (53% to 40%). This despite the full time anti-gay crusade machine at work in conservative Colorado Springs. The tide is irreversible; huge majorities of voters under 30 years old support marriage equality. Stubborn legislators will not be able to hold out much longer without constituents booting them the hell out of office.

Despite the inevitability of equal rights, it would be fantastic to get civil unions passed tonight. Why wait?

 

I'm all but expecting a legislative block. But hopefully this will get pushed through eventually.

..or the House will shut down, preventing it from coming up to a vote. Either/or.

Lex

 

In light of President Obama's announcement today, the fate of Colorado civil unions might get overshadowed, but the fight isn't over yet.

Governor Hickenlooper has called for a special session to complete debate and voting on civil unions, as well as 30 other legislative bills that were cut off by the recess deadline.

The Republican House Speaker, Frank McNulty, claimed there wasn't enough time to debate and vote on the array of bills. However, that excuse doesn't work anymore if the special session is granted; they will have all the time they need. If they continue to obstruct, it will be clear they aren't concerned about deadlines and are instead opposed to civil unions on substance, putting them at odds with the vast majority of Coloradans.

 

I wasn't a bit surprised when I saw the civil unions bill didn't get passed.

Hopefully the special session will be granted & it'll pass there...

 

Democracy be damned, apparently. That's the message sent yesterday by Frank McNulty in the special session.

Civil unions have 65-75% approval in Colorado depending on which poll you use. The bill passed not one, not two, but three Republican-controlled committees in the regular legislative session. The state Senate passed the bill easily and had more than enough votes to pass the House - five Republicans agreed to vote for it, which would have made the vote 38-32 in favor. But they never got to vote at all.

Despite the widespread support and consensus that civil unions are the right thing to do, Speaker McNulty, like the robot he is, kept referring back to his talking points. About how Gov. Hickenlooper is "divisive" (look in the mirror, buddy...you have no right to throw that term around). About how Colorado voters spoke loud and clear banning gay marriage in 2006 (a misleading piece of deception, since we are talking about civil unions here and not marriage, plus the views of Coloradans have shifted greatly since 2006...just look at the polls). Complaining that the special session was expensive (leaving out that his stalling and intransigence is what forced the special session in the first place, on civil unions but also several other important bills about water, marijuana, and insurance rates). This process has been an incredible slap in the face to our political system and to every Coloradan. McNulty and the rest like him should be ashamed.

I wish he would have the integrity to just come forward and say he doesn't like gay people. It would be bigoted, sure, but more believable and honest than all the excuses he's been throwing around this past week.

 

^ I deff agree there...

but am also not a bit surprised that the bill was killed.

 

Sigh...

 

It never gets easier does it? -_-

 

Colorado civil union vote pits lawmaker against gay son - San Jose Mercury News

A poignant, sad story about the civil unions debacle. Rep. Don Coram is a Republican from Montrose. He has a grown son who is gay. The elder Coram is on the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, where the civil unions bill was sent by Speaker McNulty for the special session Monday. It was a cold and calculated move by the Speaker, since he knew the committee is controlled by Republicans, none of whom are among the five that support the bill. He sent it there to die, intentionally.

I held out hope until the last minute that Rep. Coram would pull a "Maureen Walsh" and show some humility and compassion for his own child, and millions of others like his child. Sadly he didn't have the courage or the grace to do so. He and his colleagues voted the bill down on party lines. It is now dead for the year.

All this despite the bill having 70% poll support, a 23-12 victory in the State Senate, and a (would be) 37-28 victory in the House. That point cannot be emphasized enough, and it's one I hope gay rights advocates pounce on before the fall elections. McNulty and Co. trampled all over our democratic process. It was as cynical a ploy as they come.

One last thing. I must say I'm continually impressed by people like Dee Coram (the son) who show such poise despite continual setbacks. His gets it spot on when he says his father had the opportunity to lead, but did not. And yet he doesn't sound bitter or resentful. Disappointed of course. But not resentful.