Teen clears first hurdle to repeal Colorado’s DOMA; establish same-sex marriage

A 19-year-old Aurora gay man was given initial approval to move forward with a ballot initiative to reverse Colorado’s Amendement 43 that defines marriage between a man and a woman.

The state Title Board gave Mark Olmstead the green light after drafting and amending the official ballot language. There was no public opposition to the initiative.

Voters approved Amendement 43 in 2006. The same year it rejected a referendum to establish domestic partnerships.

Olmstead said he believes the time is right to take the question to the voters.

The ballot will read: “Shall there be an amendment to section 31 of article II of the Colorado constitution concerning a requirement that the laws pertaining to marriage by persons in Colorado be the same regardless of whether the persons are the same or different sexes?”

There is a seven day period to challenge the initiative. If there are no challenges Olmstead will need to draft a petition and have it approved by the secretary of state. Then he’ll have six months to gather at least 86,105 signatures from registered voters to place the question on the ballot.

The secretary of state’s office suggests gathering more than 120,000.

Olmstead, a political science major at Seattle University, said his next step is to decided whether or not to move forward with his initiative.

“I can’t go through with it all by myself,” he said.

Olmstead claims One Colorado, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization, asked him to remove his ballot initiative because it would conflict with its attempts to establish civil unions in Colorado.

One Colorado denies it asked Olmstead to remove his ballot initiative but had a “frank discussion” about the realities of a costly ballot drive and campaign.

At a December 2010 town hall meeting, One Colorado told supporters its first step was to secure civil unions via the Colorado General Assembly, which at the time appeared to be a quicker, less expensive agenda. They explained it would cost the organization about $5 a signature to repeal Amendment 43. The organization also believed at the time it would have to have back-to-back initiatives, first to repeal Amendment 43 than to establish same-sex marriage because Colorado forbids initiatives with more than one subject on a ballot.

Gay Denver Democrats Sen. Pat Steadman and Rep. Mark Ferrandino sponsored a civil union bill in the 2011 General Assembly, but it was killed on a party-line vote in a House Judiciary Committee. The two lawmakers have vowed to re-introduce the bill in 2012.

The legislature is split with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans controlling the House.

Olmstead said, while he understands One Colorado’s position, it’s disheartening that an organization that big publicly announced it would not support his initiative.