A couple in Adams County recently filed a lawsuit in Adams County District Court challenging Colorado’s Amendment 43 of Colorado’s state constitution, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman and effectively bans same-sex marriage. In their lawsuit, they contend that Amendment 43 violates the equal protection and due process rights of same-sex residents of Colorado.
Amendment 43 was passed by a vote of the people in November 2006. As a result, there are essentially two avenues to remove the state law ban against same-sex marriage: litigation or the ballot box. Challenging the ban is crucial for Colorado’s same-sex couples; however, many members of the LGBT community and their allies were hoping to challenge the ban through the ballot box rather than litigation for a number of reasons. In all likelihood, this lawsuit will be removed to federal district court (the federal court enjoys jurisdiction should the State of Colorado choose to remove the case to that venue because the challenge to Amendment 43 is partially brought under and based upon federal law). Should this occur, then even if the couple is successful in federal district court, any appeal will be heard by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The states that make up the Tenth Circuit are not only Colorado but also Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming. Presently, the Tenth Circuit is considered an extremely conservative bench, a view supported by the rulings that Circuit has issued in recent years. Many believe that a loss at the Circuit court level would be not only devastating to the LGBT community and its allies in their attempt to repeal Amendment 43, it also would not be a beneficial posture in which to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Litigation of this type can take many years, as we witnessed with the Proposition 8 case out of California. As such, we anticipate the fight for marriage equality in Colorado will continue on both fronts – litigation and the ballot box.
Since early September, One Colorado has been hosting a Pathway to Marriage Tour throughout the State of Colorado. In doing so, they are engaging community members in discussions regarding their thoughts and ideas on the best way to approach Amendment 43 and winning marriage equality for our state. The following dates are remaining on their tour – November 6th: Colorado Springs, November 7th: Denver, November 13th: Lakewood, November 14th: Longmont, November 20th: Highlands Ranch, November 21st: Boulder. To learn more about the Tour and/or to sign up for a meeting in your community, go here.