U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck (above) compared homosexuality with alcoholism during his comments on Sunday morning's "Meet the Press." Buck told moderator David Gregory that he believes being homosexual is a choice and "birth has an influence, like alcoholism and some other things. But basically, I think you have a choice."
Center Executive Director Carlos Martinez said Buck's comments don't reflect the views of the majority of Coloradans.
"It is unfortunate that an individual seeking an elected position that would represent the people of Colorado would choose to say such things, a nervous mistake or not," Martinez said. "What is clear is that such comments are not reflective of the truly inclusive nature of this state."
"I've been proud to be part of this state making significant progress in fighting for the equality of all Coloradans with recent passage of the Designated Beneficiary Agreement Act and expanding health insurance benefits to domestic partners of state employees," said Ferrandino. "It is frightening that such dangerous, and blatantly incorrect, rhetoric is coming from a candidate so detached from the majority of Coloradans."
Recent polling has shown that economy and jobs, rather than social issues, are the most important issues to voters. "It is imperative, however, that voters also pay attention and take into consideration candidates' perspectives on equality as they prepare to complete their ballots," said Mindy Barton, legal director at The Center. "Coloradans should elect people who are aware of the diverse nature of their constituency."
Polling from the Pew Research Center released this month found that 90 percent of registered voters say the economy will be "very important" to their vote while nearly as many (88 percent) rate jobs as very important. Just 32 percent say the issue of same-sex marriage is very important -- the lowest percentage for all 13 issues tested.
