Although the ban hasn’t been in effect for nearly a decade, backers of the amendment said it was time to get the language off the books.
Summary
Colorado voters passed Amendment J, removing language from the state constitution that defined marriage exclusively as a union between one man and one woman.
This 2006 provision, previously enshrined by Amendment 43, conflicted with the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
Supporters, including LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Colorado, argue that Amendment J safeguards same-sex marriage in the state if federal protections are ever overturned.
Opponents, like Focus on the Family and the Colorado Catholic Conference, uphold traditional marriage definitions, asserting that marriage should reflect biological complementarity and support children’s well-being through both maternal and paternal roles.
Nope. Federal law is solely up to Congress to make it and the President to sign it (and the Supreme Court to review if someone sues). Governors only affect state law, and federal law supercedes state law.
Others have answered, but the reason why "states' rights" don't matter at the Federal level is the Supremacy Clause. States can be more restrictive than the Federal government, but cannot be more lax/loose. An interesting aside is the states that have legalized marijuana usage, where the Federal government has (as of yet) not cracked down on that. It is within constitutional power to do so, but just hasn't.
While voting for this, I was shocked that the ban on gay marriage passed on 2006. Reminded me that even though we've had some shithead leaders over the years, at least we're making some progress.
California passed Proposition 8 (one man one woman)in 2008! Thankfully we saw sense, and this time we passed Prop 3 (the right to marry is a fundamental right/ equal protection).
We may be a little screwy about the number line, but hopefully we're still a bastion of humanity.