Gays scored two key victories Tuesday when the Colorado House shot down a ban on gay marriage and approved a bill that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against them.
Gay-rights groups hailed preliminary passage of the employment protections as a win that was years in the making.
The Colorado Christian Coalition, meanwhile, blasted the votes as a poor choice of leadership and blatant payback to a wealthy, gay Democratic political donor.
“We ran these bills because it’s the right thing to do,” said Democratic House Majority Leader Alice Madden.
The recorded vote Tuesday fell along partisan lines in the Democratic-controlled legislature, which Michael Brewer, policy director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Colorado, said takes basic gay rights seriously.
Before the legislature adjourns next week, Democrats also hope to finalize a proposal to make attacks on homosexuals hate crimes.
Lawmakers quoted the Bible and argued over whether homosexuality is a choice as the House on Tuesday afternoon debated the bill to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender variance.
Republican Rep. Greg Brophy of Wray opposed the bill, saying an employer should be able to fire a worker if his or her behavior is driving away customers.
“The transgendered part of this bill exposes people to things they ought not be exposed to,” Brophy said after the vote.
Mark Hotaling, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Colorado, said the bill is “plainly a payback to Tim Gill and all the money that he spent putting those people in office.”
Gill is a wealthy gay activist and Democratic donor.
“We … believe that legitimizing the homosexual and the transsexual lifestyle into state statute is not only … morally incorrect, but it’s a pretty poor choice of leadership,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Republican Rep. Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud saw his attempt to put a gay-marriage ban on November’s ballot go down in committee on a 6-5 party-line vote.
“I am convinced that the traditional family unit of one man and one woman is the gold standard of marriage, which our laws and our public policy should always promote,” he said, arguing that voters should be given the chance to weigh in on the issue.
Without a ban, he said, “hetero-normative values – that is, values favoring a one-man, one-woman marriage – will no longer be tolerated.”
Brewer testified that similar bans in other states have led to unintended consequences because they prevent states from treating unmarried people like married couples in any legal way.
For instance, he said, cities have dropped domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples. In Ohio, a judge dropped domestic-violence charges against the boyfriend of a female because he ruled the law only protects married couples.
Brewer called the committee vote a preview of the expected battle over a ban on gay marriage many expect to be on the ballot in 2006.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
