Antigay Religious Rhetoric Marks Colo. Civil Unions Debate

The Colorado Senate passed a civil unions bill Thursday after a debate that saw opponents saying being gay is a choice and that the nation was established only for the "moral and religious."

The legislation, Senate Bill 2, passed by a vote of 23-12, with support from all Democrats and three Republican women in the chamber, The Denver Post reports. All votes against it came from Republican men. It now goes to the House, where a similar measure died last year, and where Republicans hold a one-vote majority.

Some comments by Republican senators Scott Renfroe and Kevin Lundberg were captured on video and posted on YouTube. "I truly believe Jesus is a better answer than Senate Bill 2," said Renfroe, who also said he believes the U.S. Constitution "was made only for a moral and religious people." He asked his audience to follow Jesus and "vote no on Senate Bill 2." Lundberg referred to gay people as "those who choose homosexuality over heterosexuality."

The YouTube poster, going by the screen name "ExGaySurvivorDan," wrote that Renfroe and Lundberg "are in no way representative of the people of Colorado" and that their rhetoric is "an embarrassment to the Senate and to my state."

The Post quotes a different type of religious message from Democratic senator Mike Johnston, who cited God's "unconditional love." Sen. Morgan Carroll, another Democrat, relied on a secular argument, saying, "If you do not want or believe in a civil union, don't get one, but, please, don't hold back everybody else from having full legal equality."

Watch the video below, and read the Post's story here.