Amendment Jthat eliminates language from the Colorado constitution that declared marriage was only valid if it was between a man and a woman, passed decisively Tuesday night.

Voters added the ban to the state constitution in 2006 and added an amendment that said: “Only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”

But the federal government has since taken a different position on the matter. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of extending the federal right to marry to same-sex couples. Then, Congress went a step further and in 2022 repealed the text of the federal law that prohibited marriage between homosexual couples.

Because Amendment J repeals a portion of the state constitution, it only needed a simple majority to pass, rather than the 55 percent threshold needed when new provisions are added to the constitution.

Among supporters of Amendment J is One Colorado, an advocacy organization that describes itself as dedicated to promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Coloradans and their families.

According to CEO Nadine Bridges, the measure protects people in the event that the Supreme Court’s protection of same-sex marriage is struck down, a possible outcome she says given the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion.

“We worked to get the aforementioned measure passed in the House and Senate so that Amendment J was approved, so we fully support it,” he said in an interview. “We believe it is one more opportunity to create equality for same-sex couples who choose to marry. “We want to make sure we protect our communities who choose to marry.”

He said the high court’s ruling on same-sex marriage could be as impermanent as its ruling on abortion.

“The reality is that, just as happened in Roe v. Wade, we are seeing some of our judges alluding to following the same precedents to take him down,” Bridges said. “If that happens in the state of Colorado, Amendment 43 would be in effect…we want to make sure that we are being preemptive and removing this from our constitution so that we don’t have an impact.”

He said that once couples get married, they shouldn’t have to worry if suddenly their marriage is no longer legally valid.

“We certainly don’t want people to have to wonder if something would happen at the federal level through the Supreme Court. “We don’t want anyone to worry, so the best way to do it to fully ensure that same-sex marriage can continue to exist in the state is to repeal the 43rd Amendment,” he said.

Among the groups that objected was Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, which describes itself as “a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive,” providing “help and resources for families.” “Couples build healthy marriages that reflect God’s design and life.” that parents raise their children according to morals and values ​​based on biblical principles.”

Focus on the Family spokesperson and Life Matters analyst Nicole Hunt said the Colorado Springs-based organization’s opposition to Amendment J is based on its values.

“We firmly believe in the constitutional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman that currently exists in the Colorado Constitution,” he said. “While the Supreme Court made marriage something it has never really been, it put the full force of the courts, the government and the law behind this newly created institution of same-sex marriage.”

Another opponent was the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses.

Its executive director, Brittany Vessely, wrote in an email: “Amendment J will eliminate the constitutional definition of marriage as the ‘union of one man and one woman.’ Marriage is based on the truth that men and women are complementary, the biological reality that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the social science that supports the fact that children need both a mother and a father to thrive.