Colo. GOP Group Forms to Back Civil Unions

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

January 03 2012 6:25 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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A new Republican group, Coloradoans for Freedom, has formed to advocate for civil unions in that state.

The group's purpose is "to provide resources to people interested in the conservative argument for civil unions," spokesman Mario Nicolais (pictured), a lawyer and self-described "hard-core partisan Republican," told The Denver Post.

It will hold a reception Thursday at a private home in Denver, and the keynote speaker will be former state representative Rob Witwer, a straight Republican who supports civil unions.

"In my mind, there's nothing inconsistent with being a Republican and supporting the rights of gay people to live as they choose," Witwer told the Post. "I would like gay people who believe in limited government and fiscal responsibility to know they still have a home in the Republican Party."

Legislation to establish civil unions for Colorado gay couples passed in the state Senate last year, but it died in a House committee, where every Democrat voted for it and every Republican against it. Lawmakers are expected to consider a similar bill in the new legislative session, which starts January 11.