Denver Democratic state Senator Pat Steadman is sponsoring a bill that would make same-sex civil unions legal in Colorado. The move is being cheered as long overdue by gay rights supporters, who have been stymied in efforts to win equality by a constitutional amendment that outlaws gay marriage in the state. In weighing whether or not to introduce the legislation this summer,
Steadman told the Colorado Independent that "promoting a lesser status for gay people is not ideal” but that, in the short term, "people could really benefit from civil unions.”