Colorado votes to enshrine same-sex marriage in constitution

DENVER — Colorado voters passed an amendment to enshrine same-sex marriage into the state constitution. 

More than 60% of voters, amounting to upwards of 1.4 million people, voted to “repeal the state’s constitutional definition of marriage as “a union of one man and one woman.” 

A watch party at Town Hall Collaborative erupted in applause Tuesday evening as Nadine Bridges, the executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Colorado, read the results aloud. 

“I know there’s a lot of anxiety as well but here in Colorado, our community is really understanding the importance of protecting our rights to freedom,” Bridges said in an interview with Rocky Mountain PBS.

If Obergefell v. Hodges — the 2015 landmark Supreme Court case legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states — were overturned, Colorado could have been forced to return to its constitutional language. This is known as a trigger law.

Unlike other ballot initiatives proposing banning fur sales and slaughterhouses in Denver, Amendment J had no paid opposition. But several religious groups have made statements opposing the measure.

“In every culture around the world, throughout all history, marriage has been the union of husband and wife,” said Jeff Johnston, an issues analyst for Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs-based Christian group. 

Johnston said to Rocky Mountain PBS in an email that he “formerly struggled with same-sex attraction and pornography addiction,” before “god’s spirit brought healing and transformation, and my struggles with lust for men and addiction lessened over time.”

Johnston’s work for Focus on the Family centers around “marriage, homosexuality and gender, as well as encouraging and equipping Christians to engage the culture on these issues.”

Focus on the Family is outspoken against gay marriage, and Johnston said its policy stances stem from two places: the Bible and social science studies that claim children do best with a mother and father.

“This foundational male-female institution has been consistent and universal until the last two nanoseconds of human history,” Johnston said.

The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ advocacy group, listed Focus on the Family as “one of the most well-funded anti-LGBT organizations in the country.”

Johnston said his personal qualms with same-sex marriage have helped inform his political advocacy against the issue.

“Homosexual relationships are one of many sexual sins, like adultery, pornography use and lust,” Johnston said. “Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead to give all of us two things: His unconditional love, grace and forgiveness, and also, the power to change, to become more like Him. I want people who struggle with any sin to find that love and transformative power.”

The Colorado Catholic Conference told Colorado Public Radio they do not support the bill because “children have a natural right to a mother and father.” The Colorado Catholic Conference did not respond to Rocky Mountain PBS’s requests for comment.

Rocky Mountain PBS reached out to Focus on the Family for a comment on the results, but has not heard back. 

The future of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights could be in legal limbo if the Supreme Court receives a challenge to Obergefell, Lawrence v. Texas or the Respect for Marriage Act.

The United States Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act in 2023, which requires all states to honor same-sex marriages, even if such ordinances are outlawed in their state. The United States Supreme Court has not heard arguments over the law, but the American Civil Liberties Union said the court could overturn it if it heard a challenge.

In that scenario, the right to same-sex marriage would return to the states, where in Colorado the constitution currently defines marriage as between a man and a woman prior to the amendment vote.

When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, returning abortion rights to the states, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito explicitly mentioned a possibility of “revisiting” Obergefell v. Hodges, which protected the right to marriage on the principle of privacy, and Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated sodomy laws.

Project 2025, a roadmap written by 140 former President Donald Trump staffers outlining possibilities for his second-term presidency, defines marriage as “a unit between one man and one woman.”

Legal experts who’ve published opinions on the future of marriage equality have written that, should he win the presidency, it’s unlikely Trump would pass a national ban on same-sex marriage. The more likely scenario, experts have said, is that the question would be returned to states.

Several attendees at the Amendment J watch party said they felt whiplash from successes in Colorado while Donald Trump made gains on the national stage.

“We have set up Colorado so that Colorado will be OK in the immediate and I just have a heavy heart for how fearful I imagine the majority of our community is outside of Colorado,” said Jax Gonzalez, One Colorado’s political director. “We will continue to be a place that is a beacon of hope for the rest of the country, and that is the most important message to sit with tonight.”