A bill that would give gay and lesbian
couples many of the benefits and responsibilities of marriage cleared
a second Senate panel on Thursday.
The Senate Finance Committee approved
the measure on a 5 to 4 party-line vote.
On Monday, members of the Senate
Judiciary Committee approved the measure after hearing four hours'
worth of testimony. The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations
Committee before it can come up for a vote on the Senate floor.
Openly gay state Senator Pat Steadman
introduced his gay-inclusive civil unions bill on Valentine's Day.
Democratic Representative Mark Ferrandino will sponsor a similar bill
in the House.
At Monday's hearing, Rosina Kovar, a
grandmother and an “at-large-director” for the Missouri-based
Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly's socially conservative group, was
among the 27 people who testified. She
told lawmakers that she opposed the proposal because the anus is
weak.
Also opposed to the measure is the
Roman Catholic Church.
In
a letter to Colorado Catholics, Rev. Charles J. Chaput, the
Archbishop of Denver, said the bill “undermines the privileged
place of marriage and the family.”
“Marriage and the family are
cornerstones of any culture – Christian or not. They ensure the
future through the creation of new human life. Any diminishment of
the identity of marriage and the family undermines society itself.”
All 20 Democratic members of the Senate
are co-sponsors to the legislation, making passage in the
Democrat-controlled chamber a near certainty. Less certain are the
bill's prospects in the House, where Republicans hold a single seat
majority.
Colorado would become the fourth state
to offer the union behind New Jersey, Illinois and Hawaii, if
lawmakers approve the bill.