Jared Polis Signs Law Repealing Colorado’s Gay Marriage Ban
The gay governor cemented into place a law that provides same-sex couples the right to marry, even if the Supreme Court rules otherwise.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a law repealing the state’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage, just over five months after Colorado voters repealed the state’s constitutional ban on recognizing such unions.
The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Jessie Danielson (D-Wheat Ridge) and State Reps. Lorena Garcia (D-Adams Co.) and Brianna Titone (D-Arvada), the state’s first out elected transgender lawmaker, repealed the statutory ban, which was implemented in 2006, the same year voters approved prohibiting same-sex nuptials.
In a reflection of how Coloradans’ attitudes toward same-sex marriage have changed in just under two decades, last November’s ballot initiative, Constitutional Amendment J, passed by a nearly two-to-one margin, winning by healthy margins even in some of the state’s more rural counties, and racking up large margins in Denver, Fort Collins, and Boulder metropolitan areas.
Similarly, when the bill to repeal the accompanying statutory ban passed the legislature, it passed the State Senate by a 29-6 margin, with unanimous support from Democrats, and from 50% of elected Republicans
In the State House, it passed by a 45-14 margin, with six senators (including some who previously voted to put Amendment J on the ballot) absent.
Notably, it was the state’s first out gay governor, Jared Polis, who got to make history by signing the legislation to repeal the statutory ban into law.
Calling it a “long overdue step in the right direction,” the governor praised Colorado voters for choosing to repeal the discriminatory prohibition.
“This bill will cement the ability of Coloradans to marry who they love,” the Democrat said. “It’s frankly none of the government’s business to tell people who to marry, and that is currently protected by Supreme Court precedent.”
Despite same-sex marriage being allowed in Colorado since 2015, there had been urgency among Democrats to shore up protections for the LGBTQ community to ensure that same-sex marriages can still be performed and recognized as valid.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case Obergefell v. Hodges allowed for the legalization of marriage equality nationwide, but many Democrats have grown distrustful of the conservative majority on the high court following the confirmation of Trump-nominated justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Additionally, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have previously called for the court to revisit and overturn its decision in Obergefell, similar to the way the high court overturned its own precedent on abortion rights.
Several Republican-led state legislatures have also urged the high court to restore their state-level bans on same-sex marriage.
Colorado Democrats argued, therefore, that it was important to enshrine the right of any couple, regardless of gender, to marry in the state by repealing both the constitutional amendment and the law keeping the ban in place.
That way, even if the Supreme Court reverses course, same-sex couples will have their marriages recognized and protected.
They are also further protected by the federal Respect for Marriage Act, which requires the federal government and other states to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in states without explicit bans on the practice.
“The freedom to marry who we love is a fundamental right,” State Senator Danielson said in a statement. “I cannot sit back and allow Coloradans to have their marriages and families put at risk.”
Polis’ husband, First Gentleman Marlon Reis, thanked the bill’s sponsors as well as community leaders and advocates for working to overturn the ban.
“This landmark legislation fulfills the hopes and dreams of so many across our LGBTQ+ and allied communities,” Reis said, “and affirms that progress hard-won is always worth defending, and in the end, love triumphs over all.”
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