A Colorado
lawmaker and a man instrumental in the passage of Amendment
2, which prohibited laws protecting gay people from
discrimination, are pushing a ballot initiative to ban
civil unions and domestic partnerships. Republican
representative Kevin Lundberg and Will Perkins, a
retired Colorado Springs car dealer, filed paperwork Tuesday
seeking the constitutional amendment.
"It defines everything that marriage is not,"
Lundberg said. "It is not a civil union, it is not a
domestic partnership."
Perkins was chairman of Colorado for Family
Values, which spearheaded the 1992 campaign to pass
Amendment 2. The amendment was overturned by the U.S.
Supreme Court in 1996.
The men's efforts come as the Colorado
legislature considers a measure that would let
voters decide whether to give same-sex partners the
rights of marriage, including inheriting property and making
medical decisions for each other. The measure (House
Bill 1344) has passed the house and was scheduled to
be heard today in the senate.
Another ballot proposal, sponsored by Coloradans
for Marriage, would amend the constitution to say:
"Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid
or recognized as a marriage in this state." Lundberg
said his initiative would complement that proposal. (AP)