LGBTQ news and entertainment
Civil unions for gay couples has been signed into law in Colorado in a dramatic turnaround for the state, where voters banned same-sex marriage in 2006 and restricted protections for gays 21 years ago.
Celebrate, kids! More wine!
Forward!
From the LA Times:
Tuesday evening, Bisbee City Council members voted to allow the next best thing to gay marriage. In a first reading of an ordinance, adding a chapter to its city charter, they cleared the way for civil unions. The vote by the seven-member council was unanimous, making it likely to pass on a final vote scheduled in two weeks.
“I think it’s time,” Mayor Adriana Zavala Badal said of the proposal. “We’ve been working on this as a country for a long time.”
The ordinance would only affect those living within the city limits of Bisbee which has a population of about 5,600.
The Arizona state constitution forbids same-sex marriage, but mentions nothing about civil unions.
It’s uncertain if the state will challenge the ordinance or if Bisbee officials even have jurisdiction to pass the measure.
Stay tuned 🙂
Just tweeted by the openly gay Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, Mark Ferrandino!
Republican leaders in the House have spent years blocking the progress of the bill.
And now it’s on its way to the Governor’s desk, who has already stated he will sign the bill into law.
Happy dance!
Forward!
The Denver Post is reporting that SB-11, the Colorado Civil Union Act, is basically a done deal as the state House today gave initial approval to the bill.
House Speaker Mark Ferrandino ferociously defended the right of gay couples to form civil unions, arguing during a lengthy debate Monday that Republicans’ attempts to amend his bill amounted to promoting discrimination.
“I don’t ask to put your relationships up to a vote of the people,” he said.
The House gave initial approval to Senate Bill 11 and will take a formal, recorded vote Tuesday on the measure, which already has passed the Senate. Democrats control the House 37-28, so the outcome is not in doubt.
At least two Republicans support the measure: Cheri Gerou of Evergreen and Carole Murray of Castle Rock.
“What this bill is about is personal freedom and individual liberties,” Gerou said. “This is a good conservative bill.”
Gov. John Hickenlooper has already stated he plans to sign the bill should it reach his desk. The law would go into effect May 1.
SB-11, the Civil Unions bill, passed in the state House Appropriations Committee today by a vote of 9-4.
This sends the bill to the full House for it’s final vote.
The Senate passed the bill on February 11, and Governor John Hickenlooper says he will sign the bill into law should it pass in the House.
According to a recent poll, 70 percent of Coloradans support the legislation.
The Colorado Senate passed its civil unions bill today by a vote of 21-14.
Yay! Happy dance!
Democrats control the Senate 20-15 so there was no doubt about the outcome of Senate Bill 11.
Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said he couldn’t support the bill because a civil-unions like measure on the 2006 ballot failed in his county 75-25 percent.
Lawmakers often are silent during the official vote, simply voting “yes” or “no,” but often on high-profile bills there is another round of debate before the vote. But there was no further debate today, perhaps because it was the third time in three years the Senate has debated the measure.
The bill in 2011 and 2012 died in the Republican-controlled House, last year after a dramatic night with only one day left in the session. With Democrats now in the majority in the House, the bill is expected to pass, be signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper in March and become effective in May.
The Colorado Senate voted 21-14 to approve SB-11, the Colorado Civil Union Act, in the second of three votes. The bill received bipartisan support from Republican Senator Ellen Roberts voting for the bill.
From Brad Clark, Executive Director of One Colorado:
“Committed gay and lesbian couples in the state have been waiting for years — 10, 20, even 40 years — to have their relationships protected. It’s well past time that these families have equal protection under the law. We applaud the bipartisan passage of civil unions in the Senate and look forward to the debate in the House.”
SB-11 provides committed LGBT couples with important legal protections such as property inheritance, family leave to care for and visit a partner in the hospital , and the right to make medical and end-of-life decisions.
After a third reading and vote on Monday, SB-11 will move to the Colorado House, where it is expected to pass.
The Colorado Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a civil unions bill by a vote of 4 – 3 this morning. Civil unions passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
If passed, SB-11 will provide committed gay and lesbian couples with critical legal protections and responsibilities, such as the ability to take family leave to care for a partner, to make medical and end-of-life decisions for a partner, to live together in a nursing home, and to adopt children together.
The landmark legislation will now head to the full Senate for consideration.
The Polish parliament today narrowly rejected legislation that would grant some relationship rights to same-sex couples.
The lower house of parliament rejected three bills that would have legalized civil unions, including narrowly defeating one proposed by a member of the ruling Civic Platform that would have given limited rights to unmarried partners, including ability to inherit property.
The motion to prevent the Civic Platform bill from going to committees for further work was backed by 228 deputies, with 211 against.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke out in favor of the reform, but 46 members of his own party, including Justice Minister Jaroslaw Gowin, sided with the conservative opposition and voted against all three bills on their first reading.
“You can’t question the existence of such people (living in homosexual partnerships) and you can’t argue against the people who decide to live in such way,” Tusk told the parliament before the votes.
Opponents to the legislation say that recognizing gay relationships “would do nothing” to address Poland’s dwindling population. And so, for that reason, even limited rights are denied.
Colorado’s Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Colorado Civil Union Act after hours of testimony.
From KDVR:
ColoradoThe first vote came late Wednesday afternoon — and it came as no surprise to anyone — when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-to-2 on party lines to send Senate Bill 11 on to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Bringing down the gavel on the vote was Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Adams County, elected in November, who had sat on the other side of the room the past two years and testified twice about how the bill’s legal protections would help support his partner and their son.
“It’s a very different year, a very exciting year,” Ulibarri told FOX31 Denver prior to the hearing. “We have folks here who are willing to stand up for committed couples and there will be a very different result this year.”
The bill was introduced in the Senate by openly gay Senators Pat Steadman and Lucia Guzman.