Colorado civil union bill defeated (VIDEO)
Colorado Representative Mark Ferrandino of Denver was one of four sponsors for the civil union bill.
Legislation to create civil unions in Colorado died a quick death during a special session Monday.
According to the Denver Post, "The House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee shot down the bill on a 5-4 party-line vote, stopping it from getting to the House floor, where it likely would have passed, with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats."
Republican Representative Don Coram, who has a gay son, also voted down the bill. He told the Post, "What you're asking me to do here is invalidate the vote of six years ago. I'm concerned that the gay community is being used as a political pawn. For four years we had a Democrat governor, a Democrat House and a Democrat Senate. The issue never came up. It only came up when we got a split house. I think that's wrong."
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The LA Times reported, Governor John Hickenlooper had indicated he would sign the bill if given the opportunity. He also denied that he was, "in league with President Obama operatives with a gay marriage agenda."
Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, testified for civil union supporters. He called the bill "what we all know to be the right thing to do."
Supporters told the LA Times they knew the bill was doomed the second it was assigned to the Veterans and Military Affairs committee by Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty.
Representative Mark Ferrandino of Denver, one of four openly gay state legislators and a sponsor of the bill, told the New York Times, “We saw this bill die even though a majority of members of the Senate and a majority of members of the House and the governor, as well as a vast majority of Coloradans, want to see this become law. It is very unfortunate. Families across Colorado are going to have to wait longer for equal rights in our state.”
Ferrandino will not be giving up on the issue. He told the Denver Post, "This is an issue that in 20 years or less people are going to look back and say, 'Why was this an issue?' This is going to happen. It's just a question of when it's going to happen."
McNulty and Ferrandino both expressed their frustrations to the Denver Post in this video.
For more, check out GlobalPost's past coverage of the Global Gay Right's movement.