Ballot measures seek to roll back advances in gay rights

  • July 24, 2015

 

Less than two weeks after the United States Supreme Court’s historic same-sex marriage ruling, two Coloradans filed proposed ballot measures aimed at rolling back advances in legal protections and equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Coloradans.

The first initiative would redefine all marriages in Colorado as civil unions in order to undermine the Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry. The proposed change applies to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

The second initiative would allow business owners, especially wedding vendors, to refuse service to LGBT couples. The proposal would allow business to contract out the services and would require the state to create a registry of businesses willing to provide wedding-related services to LGBT couples. The measure opens the door to allowing business owners to discriminate against and refuse service to people they disapprove of or dislike.

The Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region opposes both of these measures and will work with coalition partners to prevent their advance to the November 2016 ballot. Both measures are undergoing the mandatory review and title setting process and have not yet met the requirements to appear on the ballot. We will provide updates as the process proceeds.