Family Attorney
Same-sex partnerships bill could make ballot this fall.
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May 4–DENVER - A proposed referendum that would create domestic partnerships for same-sex couples cleared another major hurdle Wednesday. The Colorado Senate gave its initial approval to a measure that would grant same-sex couples some of the same rights now afforded to married couples, but without it actually being a marriage. But even if the Legislature ultimately gives its final approval to HB1344, it still would face the scrutiny of Colorado voters in November. “In my opinion, this is a fairness and equality issue,” said Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden, who introduced the measure with Rep. Tom Plant, D-Nederland. “It’s giving same-sex couples a unique and special status in the state of Colorado to allow them to enjoy some of the benefits that those of us who are married get to enjoy. Those things are responsibilities as well as benefits.” Fitz-Gerald called the idea “a small step toward equality,” saying it’s all a matter of equal rights. Still, she said it’s not a marriage, in part, because the union would not be recognized outside of the state, or even by the federal government. The bill does not allow same-sex couples to file taxes as if they were married, and it also doesn’t require any private organization such as churches to recognize them. A legislative analysis of the measure predicts that about 1,500 couples statewide will apply for a domestic partnership license in its first year, and another 3,500 by the second year it is in effect. While the Colorado Domestic Partnership Benefits and Responsibilities Act doesn’t create a new class of marriage, per se, it does allow same-sex couples to do such things they currently are denied, such as inherit each other’s property, visit each other in emergency rooms and adopt children as a couple. But it’s just those benefits that Republican opponents to the measure don’t like. Sen. Jim Dyer, R-Centennial, said the idea is too close to actually being a marriage, and is bad public policy. “It it looks like a duck, and it walks like a duck,” Dyer said. “This is a same-sex marriage bill. You’ve got to get a license for it, you’ve got to go through a divorce. All of the things in here, all of the elements that go into this bill create all of the obligations of a marriage, all of the responsibilities of marriage. We just ought to simply say so. “A lot of us don’t think this is a matter of justice or injustice,” he added. “We’re simply not willing to say the union of people of the same sex is a marriage.” The bill still requires a final vote in the Senate, which could come as early as today. The House approved it in late March. |
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