DENVER—A GOP-led committee rejected civil unions for Colorado same-sex couples Thursday after an eight-hour hearing that included passionate pleas from gay couples who said they were being denied equal rights and religious leaders who argued the proposal would diminish the sanctity of marriage.
The proposal had breezed through the Democratic-controlled Senate last week, and came close to getting of the House committee where it failed on a 6-5 party-line vote, but not before two Republicans visibly hesitated before saying no.
Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a gay Democrat who sponsored the proposal in the House, said after the vote that he believed some of the Republicans supported the bill “in their hearts.”
“But unfortunately, they weren’t willing to take the political risks,” he said.
Sen. Pat Steadman, the sponsor of the bill in the Senate, was harsher in his criticism.
“They’re more interested in catering to extremists in their base out of fear of the word ‘primary’ than they are in public policy or voters and the people want and deserve,” he said, adding that he will bring the proposal forward again.
Under Senate Bill 172, couples in civil unions would have rights similar to married couples, including the ability to be involved in their partner’s medical decisions. The bill would enhance inheritance rights and make it easier for couples to list each other as dependents on health insurance. The bill would also address circumstances in which children are being raised by two parents but only one is recognized as the legal guardian responsible for child support.
“At the end of the day it was a very extremely tough vote I think for everybody that was on the committee,” said Rep. Brian DelGrosso of Larimer County, one of the two Republicans who paused before voting no. Republican Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, who clenched one of his hands and waited a few seconds before saying no to the bill, declined to comment after the hearing.
DelGrosso said the determining factor for his vote go against the wishes of voters who rejected a domestic partnerships referendum in 2006 and also banned gay marriage the same year.
The bill had the support of Gov. John Hickenlooper, who wrote a letter urging committee members to let the full House debate the issue.
“It’s pretty simple: What’s fair for one person should be fair for the next,” he said in the letter, which his chief of staff read during a rally in support of the bill outside the Capitol shortly before the committee hearing. “Everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, should have the same legal rights.”
At another rally outside the Capitol in opposition of the bill, people sang a Catholic hymn—a much more low key demonstration than what was happening on the other side of the building, where dozens of people waved rainbow-colored flags and chanted, “Love for you, love for me, it’s about equality!”
Pastors from Lutheran Churches, business leaders spoke in support of the bill during the committee hearing, as well as the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans and the Colorado College Republicans.
“This issue is also a limited government issue. It’s an issue about responsive government and a government that protects the rights of all people,” said Troy Ard, the chair of the Colorado College Republicans.
A lesbian couple from Colorado Springs, Lisa Green and Shawna Kemppainen, told committee members they deserved the rights married people have to protect each other, including the ability to list each other as dependents in their health insurance.
“The last time I said the pledge of allegiance, I specially noticed the words, ‘liberty and justice for all,'” Green said. “I ask you as representatives of American ideals of liberty and justice for all, to uphold your end of the bargain and say yes to civil unions.”
The Rev. Bill Carmody, with Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, opposed the bill saying that it would lessen the number of people who get married.
“I can hear the debate now. I won’t marry you, but we can have a civil union,” he said.
Ferrandino and Steadman both say it’s only a matter of time before civil unions are law in Colorado, something Ferrandino assured supporters outside the Capitol before he argued for the bill in committee.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be a good outcome and we’ll get it to the floor,” he said about the bill. “But, whatever the outcome is, know this: Civil unions is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
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