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Colorado Civil Unions Legalized on May 1st 2013

I have some incredible photos from the night that Colorado Civil Unions were Legalized. My friend Kristy and I used to skate together years ago for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls. She actually met her partner (now wife!) Holly when she joined up to skate for us too! Sadly, they have both moved on to other life pursuits and don’t skate for us anymore. I was really excited that Kristy contacted me about photographing at the Webb building at midnight on Tuesday night which is when the state of Colorado began officially recognizing same sex civil unions. Of course I said yes!

It was a beautiful night with so much love bursting out from every corner of that huge room. There were different stations with volunteer officiants and photographers there to provide their services for the happy couples who had just received their civil union paperwork. I brought my husband along on this night to help me as my lighting assistant and afterwards we couldn’t help but spend the car ride home talking about how proud we are to be Coloradoans. We both grew up in this great state and it has changed a lot throughout the years. We recalled that it was a mere 21 years ago when we were both kids that we became known as the “Hate State” due to the infamous Amendment 2 (if you are so inclined, read about it in this Westword article here: Colorado a Hate State in 1992 and a Swing State in 2012 And here we are in 2013, a swing state that is finally granting basic human rights to same sex couples. I love it:)

I have selected just a small selection of some of my favorite moments captured on this wonderful, historic night. And I want to give a quick shout to a few other people who volunteered their time and effort at this event. First and foremost, I know that Kristy worked her little butt off as an organizer and volunteer on this evening. She is actually starting her own event planning business specializing in same sex celebrations. Check out her website below!
And one of the officiants I worked with that evening was the Reverend Nathan Woodliff-Stanley who is the executive director of the ACLU of Colorado. I also had the pleasure of working with Judge Mary A. Celeste who proudly let us all know that she was the first out lesbian judge in Colorado. You can check both of them out in the video posted below from the Denver Post.
I also wanted to point out that one of the most popular officiants to volunteer her time was Congresswoman Diana Degette.

And lastly, HUGE congratulations to all of those happy couples out there who finally get to have legal recognition of their love for each other. I’m wishing you all many happy years to come!

WHOO HOO!
April

Seriously? Look at that beautiful smile:) It truly was a special, joyous evening for all involved!

Yay!!!

There’s Diana Degette performing some ceremonies:)

Rev. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley officiates for these young gentlemen

I was hoping some of the couples would get all decked out:)

I totally ate some of that sugary goodness. Such a fun cake:)

Want to see some LGBTQ weddings? Check out this adorable backyard lesbian wedding and this cute Chautauqua Park gay wedding too!