Colorado Springs couple calls for consideration of gay kids, families when weighing civil unions bill

Shawna Kemppainen and Lisa Green live in conservative Colorado Springs in El Paso County and yet they seem cautiously optimistic that Colorado’s same-sex civil unions bill will pass out of the House Judiciary Committee today. “The four members of the committee from El Paso County, we know they’re committed More…

Colorado House Democrats call for full vote on civil unions

Activists, lobbyists and citizens this week have been pressing for at least one of six Republican members of the state House Judiciary Committee to vote in favor of sending Pat Steadman’s same-sex civil unions bill to the House floor for debate. On Tuesday, the House Democratic caucus officially joined More…

Debate over civil unions in Colorado highlights divides among state conservatives

The coming debate in the Colorado House Judiciary Committee on same-sex civil unions bill SB 172 will center on Republican arguments for and against the legislation. The debate scheduled to take place under the Dome in Denver Thursday will underline the dynamics shaping the larger national debate on gay More…

Civil unions bill passes Colorado Senate: Steadman says it’s about the children

The gay and lesbian community are one step closer to being able to participate in state sanctioned unions after the Colorado Senate voted to pass on second reading SB 172. While Democrats heralded the bill as a historic moment in the fight for civil rights and the protection of children, More…

NewEra Colorado rallies youth in support of civil unions

Four out of five Coloradans under 30 support same-sex civil unions. In four years those young people will cast one of every three votes cast in Colorado. “When we vote, people listen,” said one of the speakers from youth-voter group NewEra Colorado at a Wednesday rally at the University More…

Same-sex marriage legislation from both ends of the spectrum in states across the country

The Washington Post reports that Maryland is poised to legalize same-sex marriage, possibly in the next few weeks. A bill on the Senate floor, SB 116 (PDF), would revise Maryland’s marriage code, changing the phrase, “Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this State” More…

Barbara Bush endorses gay marriage in New York state

As Colorado’s state legislature is set to take up the issue of legalizing civil unions, Barbara Bush, daughter of former president George W. Bush, has endorsed gay marriage in New York state.

She refused to be interviewed for an article in The New York Times, but the Times More…

Killing Gay Unions (Softly)

For the last few years, New Mexico has been close to becoming the first state between the coasts to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples. Many Democrats in both houses of the state legislature support the idea, and as a presidential candidate last year, Gov. Bill Richardson pandered to gay More…