While Colorado isn’t at full marriage equality (yet), my wife Charlotte and I are very excited at this first step in the right direction: civil unions!
That’s right: as of May 1st, 2013, gay and lesbian couples in Colorado can now enjoy the legal protections of a civil union. Sadly, we cannot (yet) celebrate full marriage equality with our gay brothers and lesbian sisters. Nonetheless, we are sure that there are now going to be a large number of fabulous civil unions in the coming years in Colorado. And we want to photograph them!
Charlotte and I have always stood for (and fought for) full equality for all people, but especially for marriage equality.
If you are planning a civil union celebration soon, please visit our contact us page and let us check your date. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Need a Fantastic Christian ceremony venue?
Might we humbly recommend the church Char and I are members of: First Congregational Church (UCC) in downtown Colorado Springs?
It is a stunning church (over 100 years old) with plenty of seating and amazing light.
Our lead pastor, Benjamin Broadbent, just had an editorial in our local paper, the CS Indy regarding our church’s stance on marriage equality and civil unions. Here’s an excerpt:
As a Christian pastor, I am grateful for the legalization of same-sex civil unions in the state of Colorado. It is, I believe, a step in the direction of justice, and justice is the primary message of the Hebrew prophets and of Jesus himself.
I look forward to blessing civil unions for same-sex members of my congregation and the wider community. But I also see the recent legislation as a step toward full inclusion of gay and lesbian couples in the institution of marriage.
Last fall, I was driving to my church to officiate the wedding of two young women. As I approached the intersection of Tejon and St. Vrain streets, I saw them both in their white dresses, posing for pictures, their smiles reflecting the sunny day, their parents and grandparents, friends and passersby basking in the glow of their mutual love. I cried because it was so beautiful. And I said to myself, “How could anyone think this is wrong? Thank you, God, for the love these two people have for each other.”
Alas, that wedding did not enable a legal marriage in Colorado Springs, but it was a holy event as far as our Christian church is concerned. While I have never felt comfortable acting as an agent of the state in performing weddings, and while I have considered refusing to sign marriage licenses until all marriages are legal, I look forward to that day when I can perform a wedding in my church that also conveys all of the rights and privileges of marriage.
And I look forward to the increase of yet another emotive expression at the weddings of any two people: crying, because it is just so beautiful.
Rev. Broadbent is lead minister at First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) of Colorado Springs.
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