A Colorado pride flag hangs on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on June 15, 2021. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline)
A defunct ban on same-sex marriage added to the Colorado Constitution in 2006 has now been repealed by voters.
Amendment J, referred to the 2024 ballot by the Colorado General Assembly, had 63.6% of the vote as of 9 p.m. Tuesday. The Associated Press called the race at 8:50 p.m. As a constitutional amendment, the measure needed 55% of the vote to pass.
The measure removes language added by a previous constitutional amendment, approved by Colorado voters 18 years ago, that stated that “only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”
That provision has been inoperative since the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. But supporters of Amendment J argued it was necessary to protect LGBTQ+ rights that have been put at risk by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority.
The measure was backed by the Freedom to Marry Colorado campaign, which received funding from organizations including the Rose Community Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign and LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Colorado.
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