I fully support equal rights for gay, lesbian, and
transgender members of our community. I supported Referendum I and opposed
Amendment 2. I oppose a Constitutional amendment to restrict marriages to those
between a man and a woman. I will support legislation to provide equal rights
to gay/lesbian/transgender couples, including all rights provided to married
couples. I strongly support the right of gay/lesbian/transgender couples to
adopt or have children.
When I was
a deputy District Attorney for Denver,
I prosecuted several assaults in which gay men were victims for no other reason
than they were gay at a time when not all DA’s would prosecute these cases. At
that time, we did not have a separate hate crime statute so they were
prosecuted pursuant to the assault statute. I fully supported the addition of
the hate crime statute and sentence enhancements. I was particularly incensed
by the fact that these crimes were committed solely because of the sexual
orientation of the victim. This is inexcusable in our society.
When I was
Manager of Safety for Denver, we emphasized to the Denver Police Department
that domestic violence between two partners in gay/lesbian/transgender couples
was every bit as serious as that between two straight couples and should be
treated the same. More training and education is needed in this area. I also
support training and education of correctional officers in Colorado in the special circumstances of
gay/lesbian/transgender individuals who are incarcerated.
Discrimination
in any form cannot be tolerated in our society.
