Colorado lawmakers are determined to deny legal recognition to same-gender marriages another state may someday perform (marriages performed within the state are already restricted to one man and one woman), now that they have a governor willing to sign such a measure, but at least state Senators have agreed to leave employee domestic partner benefits intact.

The Colorado Senate had already passed a so-called "Defense of Marriage" measure earlier this term, but gave preliminary approval on March 24 to another, HB 1249; final approval was expected March 27. The House had added the "DOMA" language to HB 1249 in a maneuver to avoid a committee which had deadlocked on and killed such bills in the past. In fact state Senator Dottie Wham (R-Denver), a champion of civil rights, believed the House had gone so far in changing the intent of the bill as to violate the state constitution. However most lawmakers support the idea; former Democratic Governor Roy Romer twice vetoed such bills, but current Republican Governor Bill Owens has said he will sign one.

However, Senator Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) won an amendment to ensure the "DOMA" bill would not lead to legal challenges against domestic partner benefits offered by some local governments (such as Denver) and private employers, as activists have feared. The original language he offered on March 23 specified "domestic partners," which briefly stalled the bill. On March 24, a compromise was reached that omits the phrase "domestic partners" but does state the legislation will not impact city or county laws or agreements between companies and their employees. Of course this unusual amendment has not yet been approved by the House.