Gov. John Hickenlooper’s direct support for gay “marriage” was quietly announced this week through a same-sex “marriage” advocacy group’s new campaign called Why Marriage Matters Colorado.
The Colorado Democrat has been a vocal backer of legalized civil unions, which he signed into law last year. He also supported a 2006 initiative, Referendum I, which legalized domestic partnerships in the state.
During that campaign, he emphasized that domestic partnerships would suffice to grant homosexual couples the same rights as married couples. The same year voters passed Amendment 43 that defined marriage in the Colorado Constitution as between one man and one woman.
His first public comments as governor in support of same-sex “marriage” came in the form of a statement at the end of a media release sent by One Colorado, an advocacy and lobbying group for same-sex “marriage” policy.
“If all men and women truly have the inalienable right to pursue happiness, and if all people are created equal, then by extension of law, logic and love, every adult couple should also have the freedom to join in marriage,” Hickenlooper said in the statement.
A fundamental redefinition
“It has become clear that in Colorado, as in other states, the push for domestic partnerships, civil unions, has always been about changing the meaning of marriage, despite promises to the contrary,” said Dave Uebbing, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver.
“The reason that recognizing same-sex ‘marriage’ is so important is that it makes fundamental changes to the structure of society. By recognizing unions that do not include both a mother and a father, the state redefines what a family is and gives financial and other forms of support to arrangements that are not as beneficial for children as a mother–father family are. This disadvantage is borne out by recent analyses of census data.”
The governor’s spokesman, Eric Brown, told the Denver Catholic Register that Hickenlooper “has supported the same rights for everyone since and before his time in public office. He’s spoken at gay marriage rallies and he’s long supported gay couples receiving the same treatment as everyone else.”
“Marriage is a way gay couples can get the same tax treatment and other rights as everyone else,” he claimed. “No one is suggesting that churches or other faith-based organizations be required to marry people they don’t want to.”
Let’s talk about consequences
Karna Swanson, Communications Director for the Archdiocese of Denver, urged “a serious, sober, civil discussion about what the consequences of redefining the structure of the family look like,” noting that the Church “is firmly committed to the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and woman, and firmly committed to marriage as the backbone of family.”
“We will continue to work toward strengthening both the institution of marriage and the family, and to preserve both in our culture and in our laws,” she said.
Hickenlooper’s statement comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by nine gay couples challenging the state’s voter-passed amendment defining marriage between one man and one woman.
The lawsuit, filed Feb. 19 in Denver court, claims same-sex couples are treated as second-class citizens.
Last week, Hickenlooper also signed into law Senate Bill 19, which sanctioned the ability of same-sex couples “married” out-of-state to file joint state income taxes by removing all language referring to marriage between a husband and wife.
The governor is running for re-election this year.
