John Crisci was at the gym when his longtime partner Michael Tartaglia collapsed in January 2004.
But instead of rushing to the hospital with Tartaglia, his partner of nearly 33 years, Crisci hurried home to collect legal papers. Crisci was worried that because he was gay, he wouldn’t get to make medical decisions for Tartaglia, who died that day.
“That was about 30 minutes that I lost, the 30 minutes that I could have finished my goodbyes with him,” said Crisci, who lives in Golden. “If I was a spouse, I probably would not have had to do that.”
Crisci told his story to state lawmakers on Tuesday.
Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, wants to change such situations by asking Colorado voters to create “domestic partnerships,” that would give same-sex couples the same legal rights as a married couple.
Plant, a longtime advocate for equal rights for gay and lesbian couples, has proposed House Bill 1344, which would put domestic partnerships on the November ballot.
“The bill does also acknowledge that the domestic partnership is something separate and distinct from marriage,” Plant said. “It specifies in the bill that it shall (do) nothing to change the definition of marriage in the state of Colorado as being between one man and one woman.”
The House Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on the bill while state budget experts finish a “fiscal note” evaluating the cost to the state.
If passed and ultimately approved by voters, the measure would give thousands of gay and lesbian couples in Colorado the legal recognition to be on equal footing with married couples.
As domestic partners, they could inherit property, would be entitled to survivor’s and victims’ compensation benefits, could adopt the partner’s child, would be able to make medical decisions for the partner, and many other benefits.
Opponents argue that same- sex couples can solve many of their issues by drafting wills and other legal documents, but Crisci and others pointed out pitfalls in that process.
“Together we went to lawyers early on. We got wills made, we got power of attorneys made, we got living wills made,” Crisci said.
“We did everything that we possibly could do cover all the bases. But once I started working through the system, I realized that you can’t cover all the bases with the law.”
Plant’s bill is not the only measure dealing with gay partnership issues.
A separate citizen-sponsored initiative that would add to the state constitution the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has also been proposed. That definition is already state law.
A Senate committee is also scheduled to consider today a Republican-sponsored measure that would create “reciprocal beneficiary agreements,” offering some limited protections to same-sex couples and other adults who cannot marry, without conferring domestic partnership status.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
