10/05/2012 - Myclipp

Reuters General/ - Article, Sex, 11 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Civil Rights)
Colorado governor seeks legislative
session on civil unions
By Keith Coffman DENVER | Thu May 10, 2012
7:13pm EDT DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado's
Democratic governor called on Thursday for a special
legislative session to consider a civil unions bill that
would grant legal rights to same-sex couples, setting
up a potential showdown with Republican lawmakers.
Governor John Hickenlooper said in an executive
order calling for the session, due on Monday, that the
bill was needed so couples, regardless of their sexual
orientation, could "take care of each other and their
families."Hickenlooper has previously told reporters
that without the bill, which failed to advance to a vote
in the state House of Representatives during the
regular session, the state was depriving people of their
civil rights.The governor's action came a day after
President Barack Obama became the first sitting
president to say that he thinks same-sex marriage
should be legal, in a move hailed by Democrats and
gay rights groups as a benchmark for civil
rights.Others, including Republican activists and
conservative Christian leaders, criticized him for taking
up a divisive issue they see as an affront to traditional
values.Nine states already allow civil unions or
domestic partnerships for gays and lesbians, while
another eight plus the District of Columbia have gone
further and allow gay marriage or are awaiting
enactment of laws legalizing gay nuptials.If Colorado's
measure becomes law, the state would become only
the second in the largely conservative,
libertarian-minded Rocky Mountain region to endorse
same-sex civil unions or domestic partnerships after
Nevada did so in 2009.The state's
Republican-controlled House of Representatives had
failed to take a vote on the civil unions bill before the
regular session ended on Wednesday, drawing
condemnation from gay rights groups. A vote had been
expected to be close.Colorado House Speaker Frank
McNulty, a Republican, has expressed his opposition
to the civil unions bill. Under state law, it remains up to
lawmakers whether to consider any bill the governor
requests them to take up.Aside from civil unions,
Hickenlooper asked lawmakers to address six other
subjects, which ranged from funding for the Colorado
water conservation board to penalties for driving under
the influence of marijuana.Colorado voters in 2006
passed a constitutional amendment restricting
marriage to between a man and a woman."We're
opposed to civil unions because legally they are used
as a stepping stone to same-sex marriage," said Carrie
Gordon Earll, a spokeswoman for the policy arm of
Colorado-based Christian group Focus on the
Family."We are, in opposing civil unions, defending the
vote of the people," she said.(Reporting by Keith
Coffman; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by
Cynthia Johnston and Vicki Allen)
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