According to a report from KWGN in Denver, the newly formed "Coloradans for Freedom" Republican group will be hosting a Thursday night party in order to support the reintroduction of civil union legislation this year. Here are some of the details.
* According to a report in the Denver Post, Colorado citizens voted to make gay marriage unconstitutional in 2006. While civil union legislation won't overturn that constitutional amendment, it would allow the legal benefits and protections granted to same-sex couples. Last year's bill offered a process by which unmarried adults, regardless of gender, applied for a civil union license at the county clerk's office.
* The new legislative session starts on January 11, at which time Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, will introduce this year's bill, KWGN reports. Steadman, who is gay, also carried the bill through the Democratic-controlled senate last year.
* House Minority Leader Rep. Mark Ferradino, D-Denver, who is also gay, sponsored the bill in the Republican-controlled House last year, where it failed in committee. This year, he is hoping that the Coloradans for Freedom group will help build support for the bill and that a Republican will be willing to sponsor it and help carry it through the House.
* The failure of last year's bill, according to an April 1, 2011, report from Reuters, came in the House Judiciary Committee, with 5 Democrats voting yes to the measure, and 6 Republicans voting no. The consideration of the bill had included seven hours of testimony from supporters and opponents.
* Members of Coloradans for Freedom include, among others, the Colorado Reapportionment Commissioner Mario Nicolais, the Independence Institute's Mike Krause, and state senators Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, and Ellen Roberts, R-Durango. The message of the group, the Denver Post reported, is that "being gay and forming a civil union is a matter of personal freedom consistent with the Republican philosophy of individual liberty."
* According to Nicolais, the Denver Post reported, the purpose of the group's Thursday night gathering is "not to create conflict within the Republican Party. It's to provide resources to people interested in the conservative argument for civil unions."
* Last year, a poll commissioned by One Colorado showed 72 percent public support in Colorado for civil unions, KWGN reported. A Public Policy Polling survey last month showed the same support.
