Gay-rights
advocates in Colorado have failed to block a ballot measure
that aims to prohibit domestic partnerships, after a state
board approved the ballot measure's language on
Thursday. The measure asks voters to forbid legal
recognition of a union that is "similar to that of
marriage." It's a counter-attack on a
domestic-partnership measure already on the ballot.
Gay-rights lawyers made a case that the language
is "purposefully obscure" and voters may
wonder how it would apply to common-law marriage. The
same lawyers successfully fought the anti-gay rights
Amendment 2 a decade ago but failed in this attempt.
The measure's co-sponsor, state
representative Kevin Lundberg, called their arguments
"absurd." He plans to start collecting the
required signatures to place the measure on the
ballot, even though gay-rights advocates plan to
appeal to the state Supreme Court.
This could be the start of protracted legal
battles in Colorado. Two other measures dealing with
same-sex marriage--one for and one against--are
also expected to land on the ballot this fall. (Sirius OutQ
News)
