Colo. Const. art. II § 31 Marriages - Valid Or Recognized

• Library: Colorado Constitution
• Edition: prefLabel,label,title,shortLabel
• Currency: Current through 11/8/2022 Election
• Citation: Colo. Const. art. II § 31

Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.

Cite as Colo. Const. art. II § 31

Source:

Initiated 2006: Entire section added, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, L. 2007, p. 2962, December 31, 2006.

Editor's Note:

(1) In Kitchen v. Herbert, 755 F.3d 1193 (10th Cir. 2014), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the fundamental right to marry, establish a family, raise children, and enjoy the full protection of a state's marital laws. A state may not deny the issuance of a marriage license to two persons, or refuse to recognize their marriage, based solely upon the sex of the persons in the marriage union.

(2) In Bishop v. Smith, 760 F.3d 1070 (10th Cir. 2014), the Tenth Circuit held that Oklahoma's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that states "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by precluding same-sex couples from receiving an Oklahoma marriage license. The Tenth Circuit has jurisdiction over Colorado in addition to Utah and Oklahoma, and section 31 of article II of the state constitution is similar to the constitutional provisions of those states. On January 16, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court granted petitions for writs of certiorari in consolidated cases from Sixth Circuit states that also had similar provisions.