Chapter 37 - § 37.5 • SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNIONS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 37.5 • SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNIONS

§ 37.5.1—Same-Sex Marriage

"[T]he right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. The [U.S. Supreme] Court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry." Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 2604-05 (2015). With those words, Justice Kennedy made clear that same-sex couples are entitled to all of the rights, and are burdened by all of the responsibilities, of marriage. Accordingly, marriages of same-sex couples are dissolved under the same rules governing traditional couples. However, couples (both same-sex and opposite-sex) who entered into a Colorado civil union are still considered partners in a civil union unless and until they legally marry. Couples who were married legally in another jurisdiction and thereafter moved to Colorado are now recognized as married, whereas previously they were recognized in Colorado simply as partners in a civil union.

§ 37.5.2—Colorado's Civil Union Act

Colorado's Civil Union Act, C.R.S. §§ 14-15-101, et seq., became effective on May 1, 2013. Pursuant to that statute, both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples may enter into a civil union in Colorado. A civil union provides virtually the same rights and responsibilities under state law as marriage. Once...