In 1996, South Africa became a pioneer to the world when it rewrote its constitution to include the protection of sexual orientation. That historic step came largely because of Nelson Mandela’s deep commitment to equality after decades of apartheid rule and also because of a friendship he formed in the early 1960s.
In 1962, Mandela began posing as the chauffeur of Cecil Williams, a gay white theater director, which allowed Mandela to travel around the country, eluding authorities while continuing to organize against apartheid and the oppressive government policies.
Mandela learned from that experience, as so many of us have, that it is virtually impossible to maintain any kind of bigotry or discrimination in the face of friendship and understanding. It’s why attitudes have changed drastically in Colorado and around the country about same-sex marriage. We cannot any longer face friends and family who are asking for equal protection under the law and tell them they are different. It is an indefensible position.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers maintains that somehow he must see the appeals on Colorado’s gay marriage ban through to the end because it is his job. The reality is quite different. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that not only should Suthers not defend unconstitutional positions, he also should go to court against those laws and provisions. He is on the wrong side, attempting to stop the tide of history and justice.
Other states have faced the inevitability of recognizing same-sex marriage. This battle is all but over, and Colorado has more important issues that require our resources and time. Perhaps New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said it best: “When I know that I’ve been defeated, you don’t bang your head against a wall and spend taxpayer money to do it,” he said, explaining his decision not to continue appealing the lawsuit which overturned New Jersey’s marriage ban.
My wife, Wilma, and I have a decades-long history of fighting discrimination based on physical handicaps, marital status, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, workplace rights and many other issues. Our stand prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation stretches back to 1975. None of these issues or battles came easy, and in each one we had to balance our own security concerns and philosophical beliefs against our senses of justice and fair play with an eye on the 14th Amendment.
Recognition of same sex-marriage is a personal as well as a civil rights issue for me. I testified on behalf of civil unions at the legislature, knowing that the next logical step would be to strike down the ban on gay marriage. Our son, Keith — who died in 2009 from a suspected suicide — and I talked about Colorado’s progress on recognizing committed couples and I asked him if civil unions would be enough.
He said to me, “Would you expect me as your son to say half a step is a civil right?”
Colorado should take the full step toward marriage equality.
Wellington Webb is the former mayor of Denver and founder of Webb International Group.