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LGBTQ rights in Colorado
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LGBTQ rights in Colorado
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Colorado enjoy the same rights as non-LGBTQ people. In 1972, Colorado became one of the first U.S. states to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity. Same-sex marriage has been recognized since October 2014, and the state enacted civil unions in 2013, which provide some of the rights and benefits of marriage. State law also prohibits discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations and the use of conversion therapy on minors. In July 2020, Colorado became the 11th U.S. state to abolish the gay panic defense.
Colorado is frequently referred to as one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the Mountain West. The LGBT think tank Movement Advancement Project ranks Colorado second in the region for LGBTQ rights legislation, behind Nevada. 2019 polling from the Public Religion Research Institute showed that 77% of Colorado residents supported anti-discrimination legislation protecting LGBTQ people.
The Arapaho, who now live on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, recognize male-bodied individuals who act, behave and live as women, referred to as haxu'xan. The haxu'xan, like women, are traditionally in charge of food preparation and dressing hides to make clothing and bedding. They form a "third gender" in Arapaho society, and can even marry men. The Arapaho believe their gender is "a supernatural gift from birds and animals".
In 1860, sodomy was made illegal in Colorado, then the Jefferson Territory, under its first criminal code, which indirectly prohibited sodomy by expressly recognizing common law, under which the maximum penalty for sodomy was death. In 1861, the U.S. Congress created the Colorado Territory, whose government enacted a criminal code that punished sodomy (as defined by common law) with penalties ranging from one year to life in prison. In 1922, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the ban did not prohibit fellatio (oral sex), even though the court felt that the behavior was "more vile and filthy than sodomy". The law was revised in 1939 to expressly cover anal intercourse and oral sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, and the maximum penalty was reduced to fourteen years. In 1953, Colorado enacted a psychopathic offender law that provided for indefinite institutionalization for committing sex crimes, thus putting homosexuals in the same category as rapists and child molesters. The law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 in Specht v. Patterson, holding that the law was "unconstitutional because the defendants were not afforded basic due process of law in the proceedings". In 1970, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the sodomy ban also included cunnilingus.
In 1971, Colorado revised its penal code and decriminalized sodomy in cases that involved non-commercial, private acts between consenting adults. At the same time, it instituted a public indecency law that banned public displays of affection between same-sex couples. The Colorado Supreme Court struck down that statute in 1974. The Gay Coalition of Denver contributed to the decriminalization of four of the discriminatory laws in the city of Denver. Their City Council Revolt in 1972 was the first time a LGBTQ advocacy organization joined to force law changes.
In 1975, the Boulder County Clerk issued marriage licenses to several same-sex couples after the local district attorney interpreted Colorado's statutes, which used the phrase "any two persons", to be gender-neutral with respect to marriage. State Attorney General J.D. MacFarlane issued a contrary opinion that those marriages were invalid. When one of those married in Boulder tried to use it to sponsor his husband for immigration purposes, he lost his case, Adams v. Howerton, in federal court. In 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reversed its decision from 1975 and granted permanent residency status to Anthony Sullivan, based on his marriage to Richard Adams in Boulder on April 21, 1975.
In 1996, Governor Roy Romer vetoed legislation which would have banned recognition of same-sex marriages. In his notice to the General Assembly, Governor Romer wrote "It is one thing to believe, as I do, that marriage is for the union of a man and woman. It is quite another to believe that committed same sex relationships do not exist and should not be recognized by society." In 2006, a state referendum added language to the Colorado Constitution that restricted marriage and common law marriage to couples of different sexes, without mentioning civil unions or domestic partnerships. In November 2024, over 64% of Colorado voters called Amendment J repealed the 2006 anti-gay clause within the state constitution.
In April 2009, Colorado enacted a designated beneficiaries law, effective July 1, that allowed anyone to make a same-sex partner the beneficiary of insurance, inheritance, hospital visitations, funeral arrangements and death benefits, and other important matters.
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LGBTQ rights in Colorado
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Colorado enjoy the same rights as non-LGBTQ people. In 1972, Colorado became one of the first U.S. states to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity. Same-sex marriage has been recognized since October 2014, and the state enacted civil unions in 2013, which provide some of the rights and benefits of marriage. State law also prohibits discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations and the use of conversion therapy on minors. In July 2020, Colorado became the 11th U.S. state to abolish the gay panic defense.
Colorado is frequently referred to as one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the Mountain West. The LGBT think tank Movement Advancement Project ranks Colorado second in the region for LGBTQ rights legislation, behind Nevada. 2019 polling from the Public Religion Research Institute showed that 77% of Colorado residents supported anti-discrimination legislation protecting LGBTQ people.
The Arapaho, who now live on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, recognize male-bodied individuals who act, behave and live as women, referred to as haxu'xan. The haxu'xan, like women, are traditionally in charge of food preparation and dressing hides to make clothing and bedding. They form a "third gender" in Arapaho society, and can even marry men. The Arapaho believe their gender is "a supernatural gift from birds and animals".
In 1860, sodomy was made illegal in Colorado, then the Jefferson Territory, under its first criminal code, which indirectly prohibited sodomy by expressly recognizing common law, under which the maximum penalty for sodomy was death. In 1861, the U.S. Congress created the Colorado Territory, whose government enacted a criminal code that punished sodomy (as defined by common law) with penalties ranging from one year to life in prison. In 1922, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the ban did not prohibit fellatio (oral sex), even though the court felt that the behavior was "more vile and filthy than sodomy". The law was revised in 1939 to expressly cover anal intercourse and oral sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, and the maximum penalty was reduced to fourteen years. In 1953, Colorado enacted a psychopathic offender law that provided for indefinite institutionalization for committing sex crimes, thus putting homosexuals in the same category as rapists and child molesters. The law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 in Specht v. Patterson, holding that the law was "unconstitutional because the defendants were not afforded basic due process of law in the proceedings". In 1970, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the sodomy ban also included cunnilingus.
In 1971, Colorado revised its penal code and decriminalized sodomy in cases that involved non-commercial, private acts between consenting adults. At the same time, it instituted a public indecency law that banned public displays of affection between same-sex couples. The Colorado Supreme Court struck down that statute in 1974. The Gay Coalition of Denver contributed to the decriminalization of four of the discriminatory laws in the city of Denver. Their City Council Revolt in 1972 was the first time a LGBTQ advocacy organization joined to force law changes.
In 1975, the Boulder County Clerk issued marriage licenses to several same-sex couples after the local district attorney interpreted Colorado's statutes, which used the phrase "any two persons", to be gender-neutral with respect to marriage. State Attorney General J.D. MacFarlane issued a contrary opinion that those marriages were invalid. When one of those married in Boulder tried to use it to sponsor his husband for immigration purposes, he lost his case, Adams v. Howerton, in federal court. In 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reversed its decision from 1975 and granted permanent residency status to Anthony Sullivan, based on his marriage to Richard Adams in Boulder on April 21, 1975.
In 1996, Governor Roy Romer vetoed legislation which would have banned recognition of same-sex marriages. In his notice to the General Assembly, Governor Romer wrote "It is one thing to believe, as I do, that marriage is for the union of a man and woman. It is quite another to believe that committed same sex relationships do not exist and should not be recognized by society." In 2006, a state referendum added language to the Colorado Constitution that restricted marriage and common law marriage to couples of different sexes, without mentioning civil unions or domestic partnerships. In November 2024, over 64% of Colorado voters called Amendment J repealed the 2006 anti-gay clause within the state constitution.
In April 2009, Colorado enacted a designated beneficiaries law, effective July 1, that allowed anyone to make a same-sex partner the beneficiary of insurance, inheritance, hospital visitations, funeral arrangements and death benefits, and other important matters.
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