A proposed amendment to the Colorado
Constitution seeks to prohibit gay and lesbian couples from marrying.
According to The
Denver Post, if approved, the amendment would redefine the
marriages of gay couples in Colorado as civil unions.
A second proposal would allow
businesses in the wedding industry to hire a contractor to serve gay
couples if they objected to such unions.
Both ballot questions were filed by
Gene Straub and D'Arcy Straub, a lawyer.
LGBT rights advocate One Colorado
criticized the initiatives.
“This initiative is an unnecessary
attempt to radically redefine all marriages in Colorado in order to
undermine the Supreme Court's recent decision,” One Colorado
Executive Director Dave Montez said. “Even before last week's
Supreme Court decision, the 37 states that already had marriage
equality had proved that when loving, committed gay couples share in
the freedom to marry, families are helped and no one is hurt.”
Colorado Rep. Dominick Moreno, a
Democrat, called the effort moot: “You can't override the Supreme
Court, especially at the state level.”
After the Supreme Court last year
refused to review an appeals court's ruling striking down Utah's ban
on gay marriage, Colorado, which is under the same court's
jurisdiction, became the 25th state with marriage
equality. Colorado lawmakers in 2013 approved civil unions.