October 06, 2014 12:37 PM UTC

Bob Beauprez Loses Long Battle Against Marriage Equality

• 13 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today allowing the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling against same-sex marriage bans to stand, it's a good time to review the position of Colorado candidates in next month's elections on marriage equality. Here's a clip of video of then-Congressman Bob Beauprez speaking in 2006 about his strident opposition to same-sex marriage:

BEAUPREZ: We celebrate the fact that we were all created equal by our Creator–equal, but different. And for a purpose. And he showed us that purpose in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve…

And marriage since the beginning of time, as close as I can tell, has been between a man and a woman. And if it was indeed good enough for our Creator, and it was indeed our Creator's plan, that we are created different for an absolute divine purpose, I think we'd best not be messing with his plan today.

Looking deeper, this was far from the only instance of Beauprez expressing a hard-line stand against marriage equality–by today's standards, a viewpoint well out of the mainstream, and uncompromising even by 2006 conservative standards. Beauprez's A Line of Sight blog, which has been moved to a dysfunctional "alternate" location in advance of his entry into the gubernatorial race for the apparent purpose of making it harder to find, contains many such statements, bemoaning the desire of "homosexuals" to "tear apart the institution of traditional marriage."

Bob Beauprez, "In Defense of Marriage," A Line of Sight, 4/14/07

Colorado voters spoke clearly in November approving Amendment 43 which added to the state's Constitution the definition of marriage as being only between one man and one woman. Voters also defeated a heavily funded effort known as Referendum I which would have advanced homosexual rights including domestic partnerships and gay adoption. Nonetheless, the Democrat majority at the state capitol is moving legislation to nullify the voter’s directive, and apparently it has the support of Governor Ritter…

[T]his cultural war is about much more than validating, legalizing, or codifying the union of two homosexuals. The proponents of gay marriage want to tear apart the institution of traditional marriage itself, [Pols emphasis] and if they have to do it one brick at a time, they will, until the structure crumbles… I believe that if marriage between a man and a woman was good enough for Adam and Eve – and it was the plan of their Creator – then we ought not to mess with it.

…In our hands lies the responsibility to nurture and protect what we have inherited from our ancestors and our Creator. Great civilizations have come and gone throughout history – Egypt, Greece, Rome – what will be the enduring legacy of America? Or, what will hasten her demise?

Got that? Egypt. Greece. Rome. Protect America from the gays or share their fate! Makes perfect sense.

But as of today, it's Beauprez's viewpoint that resides in the dustbin of history.