The Domestic Partnership is on Colorado's ballot (amendment i)
"Creates a new legal relationship, called a domestic partnership, providing same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the legal protections and responsibilities granted to married couples by Colorado law."
http://www.vote-smart.org/election_ballot_measures_detail.php?ballot_id=M000001395Those favoring amendment i point out that if it fails, gay partners will continue to be denied visitation rights to their hospitalized partners. Gay DUers understand the Catch-22:
you aren't immediate family so you can't visit your sick partner. Yet, the law denies gay couples the opportunity to become immediate family. Those who oppose amendment i point out that gay couples can write a contract that allows their partners to visit them in the hospital. The thing they don't recognize is that gay couples shouldn't have to consult a lawyer and pay those fees to receive the rights that heterosexual couples take for granted. No American should be a second-class citizen yet discrimination against gays is institutionalized. Amendment i attempts to remove this discrimination, correcting a wrong.