Colorado Governor Jared Police signed a law repealing the state’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage five months after Colorado voters abolished the state’s constitutional ban that allowed such unions.
The bill, hosted by state senator Jesse Danielson (D-Wheat Ridge) and a state official, has repealed the statutory ban introduced in 2006, when Lorena Garcia (D-Adams Co.) and Brianna Titone (D-Arvada) have been approved in the same year.
Reflecting how Coloradan’s attitude towards same-sex marriage has changed within 20 years, the vote initiative, Constitutional Amendment J, passed with a nearly 2-1 margin, winning healthy margins in some of the state’s more rural counties, earning large margins in the Denver, Fort Collin and the Boulder Metroitan area.
Similarly, when a bill repealing the accompanying statutory ban passed Congress, it passed unanimously from Democrats, passing the state Senate with a margin of 29-6, starting from 50% of elected Republicans.
The state Capitol passed with a margin of 45-14, with six senators absent (including those who previously voted to vote for Amendment J).
In particular, it was Jared Polis, the state’s first gay governor. He was able to make history by signing a law that would repeal the statutory prohibition into law.
Calling it “a long step in the right direction,” the governor praised Colorado voters for choosing to eliminate discriminatory bans.
“This bill solidifies Coloradan’s ability to marry someone they love,” Democrats said. “Frankly, government businesses don’t tell anyone who’s going to marry, and that’s currently protected by the Supreme Court precedent.”
Since 2015, there has been an urgency among Democrats to enhance protections for the LGBTQ community in order to ensure that same-sex marriages are still recognized as effective despite the permissions of same-sex marriages in Colorado.
US Supreme Court decision in case Obergefellv. Hodges Although they have allowed the national legalization of marriage equality, many Democrats have distrust of the conservative majority of the High Court following confirmations of Trump’s known Justice Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Additionally, Judges Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have previously called on the court to review and overturn the decision. Obergefellas in the way the High Court overturned its own precedent on abortion rights.
Several Republican-led state legislatures have urged the High Court to restore state-level bans on same-sex marriage.
Therefore, Colorado Democrats argued that it was important to embarrass the rights of couples to marry within the state by repealing both constitutional amendments and laws that maintain the prohibition regardless of gender.
That way, same-sex couples will be allowed and protected from marriage, even if the Supreme Court reverses the course.
They are also further protected by federal respect. This requires the federal government and other states to allow same-sex marriages legally committed in states without expressly banning practices.
“The freedom we can marry someone we love is a fundamental right,” state Sen. Danielson said in a statement. “I can’t sit down and make Coloradan at risk to marriage or family.”
Police’s husband, first gentleman, Marlon Reiss, thanked her for sponsoring the bill, community leaders, and for her support of her work to overturn the ban.
“This groundbreaking law fulfills the hopes and dreams of so many people across the LGBTQ+ and the allied community,” Reiss said.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
