A Republican lawmaker and an activist behind the controversial Amendment 2 in 1992 want to ask voters this November to bar state and local governments from recognizing domestic partnerships.
The effort could add yet another marriage question to this fall’s ballot and recalls the battle over Amendment 2, which prohibited laws and rules protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination.
Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, and Will Perkins, a Colorado Springs activist who led the drive to pass Amendment 2, filed paperwork with state officials Tuesday to seek the latest constitutional amendment on domestic partnerships.
“The question is, what is marriage, and in order to clearly understand that, we have to answer what marriage is not,” Lundberg said.
The effort is a direct challenge to House Bill 1344, which would let voters decide whether local governments can recognize domestic partnerships. That bill has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.
Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland, sponsor of House Bill 1344, said: “Will Perkins and Kevin Lundberg are trying to introduce Amendment 2 all over again. They cost the state a lot of money the last time they did that.”
Amendment 2 was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996 after a four-year legal battle.
Plant called Lundberg’s ballot proposal extreme and “out of step with Colorado.”
Lundberg and Perkins aren’t the only ones trying to get a proposal to restrict gay rights on the ballot. Opponents to same-sex unions are also working to amend the constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. State law already includes that definition.
Lundberg said he will rely on volunteers to gather the 67,829 signatures from qualified voters that are needed to get on the ballot.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
