Colorado Adds Its Voice to LGBT Rights This Week

by Michael Jones · 2009-01-15 11:08:00 UTC
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ColoradoAlready this week we've seen a bill introduced in Maine to recognize same-gender marriage, and calls out of Vermont for the state to recognize marriage equality. Now we get pro-LGBT rights legislation introduced in Colorado, which would extend insurance benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.

(All this great activity is enough to almost make us forget about Indiana and Wyoming...)

Yesterday, two Colorado lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 88, which if passed would allow LGBT state employees to share their insurance and health benefits with their partners. "It's about equity and equality, and it's about competing in the marketplace as more and more employers offer it," said State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, one of the lawmakers introducing the bill.

The money line: "It's about competing in the marketplace." If states want to hire and retain the most qualified employees, they shouldn't discriminate or deny benefits to a particular group of people. It's that simple.

Conservative lawmakers are calling the proposed bill "special-interest legislation," and using the tired and worn talking point that, "We can't focus on LGBT rights at this moment, not when the economy is in the shape it is." But for the 1,000th time: civil rights and fixing the economy are not mutually exclusive. One doesn't need to sacrifice the other in order to make progress in this country.

Additionally, there are 800,000 Coloradans currently uninsured. Any effort to bring that number down by offering same-gender partner benefits would be in Colorado's best interests.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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