Election numbers

Colorado's voting tendencies are, to be nice, diverse. To be more direct, they're schiztophrenic.

Case in point: Two gay-rights ballot initiatives are up before the people this November. Referendum I would give gay couples the right to seek "domestic partnership status," which includes many legal rights married people enjoy, health insurance rights, pension rights, the right to make medical decisions, and so forth.

Amendment 43 is a proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution which would clearly define marriage as a one-man/one-woman only arrangement, cutting off homosexual couples from that right.

Both initiatives are winning according to the latest poll.

58% of those polled are favoring Referendum I, (the pro-gay rights initiative) and 52% support Amendment 43 (the anti-gay rights initiative). One voter in five actually favors both.

See what I mean by schitzophrenic?

I treat all this as good news. Referendum I is actually doing better than the gay marriage ban, which could still actually lose, all of which is good.

But I could even live with both measures passing, as well.

See, the real benefits of marriage don't come from the sign of the committment as much as they do from creating enforceable legal rights between two people. Marriage is first and foremost a property right, with love and committment honestly coming way down on the list of priorities.

In fact, to hear the Holy Terrors tell it, the first priority when it comes to marriage is making babies. Which, of course, gay couples can still do, anyway.

It's all good, IMHO.