Why Our Politicians Love Colorado
Bil Browning
Jared Polis
United States Representative
“Colorado is a beautiful state that encourages healthy life- styles and offers great cultural and recreational opportunities ranging from world-class skiing to professional sports to performing arts. Our business- friendly policies and good schools make Colorado a great place to start a business or find a job. Colorado’s live-and-let-live culture helps us stay ahead of the curve in ensuring that LGBT Coloradans are safe and secure in our lives and jobs.”
Dominick Moreno
State Representative
“I love Colorado because it’s my home. It’s where I was born and raised. I love that we are independent and often ahead of much of the country on many things. The first marriage licenses were issued to gay couples in Boulder in the 1970s. We were one of the first states
to give women the right to vote. I ran for office to advance Colorado’s history of respecting individual liberty and equality for all.”
John Hickenlooper
Governor
Governor John Hickenlooper, in office since 2011, has been a staunch LGBT ally for years. As the mayor of Denver, Hickenlooper proclaimed a “marriage equality day” in 2009 at the request of a 3rd grader. In his 2012 State of the State address, Hickenlooper announced that passing civil-union legislation was a top priority for his administration and in 2014, he evolved to fully support same-sex marriage.
Diana Degette
United States Representative
“I am proud to be a fourth- generation Coloradan, but I
also chose to make Colorado my home because — in addition to its unrivaled beauty — this place is among the most vibrant and interesting places to live anywhere. I am honored to serve this place and its people in public office because for all of the nastiness that we see in politics sometimes, the ability to make our communities better and promote our shared values is incredibly rewarding. I count many of the advances we have won for LGBT rights among my proudest professional accomplishments.”
Jessie Ulibarri
State Senator
State senator Jessie Ulibarri was the first legislator to marry his partner during Colorado’s rocky road to marriage equality. While the media made a spectacle of the couple’s wedding, Ulibarri’s grandmother stole the hearts of the public when she handed him his grandfather’s wedding ring. She had always been supportive of their relationship and wanted him to have the important token because it meant so much to her. Ulibarri’s grandparents were married for 61 years; his grandfather had died the year before.
Pat Steadman
State Senator
State senator Pat Steadman has been fighting for LGBT rights for more than two decades. An openly gay man, Steadman entered the battle in 1991 when he fought against Denver’s Ordinance 1 — a general election campaign on whether or not to keep the city’s sexual orientation inclusion in the human rights ordinance. When he sponsored the state’s civil-unions bill in 2013, he made sure it was Senate Bill 11 as a tribute to his late partner, Dave Misner. Misner, who had died shortly before the bill’s introduction, was born on May 11 and the couple had been together for 11 years.
Michael Hancock
Mayor
“I grew up here in a big family without a lot of money, and I dreamed of one day being Denver’s Mayor. It was an audacious dream, but the people in my life believed in me. Denver believed in me. This city gave me a chance to succeed. Today, I see that same promise in all of Denver, in all of its people. And I believe we can make Denver a city of opportunity for everyone. We have the made great strides toward bringing down the walls that divide to become a place where everyone matters and we will keep moving boldly in that direction, together.”
Paul Rosenthal
State Representative
“Colorado was a fresh start for me, a chance to go to grad school, buy a condo, make a career, pursue politics, and come out of the closet. Besides the fact this place is beautiful, open, and has so much sun, the people here palpably thrive in that environment. Remarkably, I found it easy to get into politics in Denver. To be sure, I put in a lot of work and made a lot of sacrifices, but new leaders like me were welcomed. I always knew I had particular ideas and ways of doing things no one else did, so running for office was a natural goal. I feel I am accomplishing what I had set out to do: help people and small businesses, work on climate change, criminal justice reform, and promote our state internationally.”
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