Yesterday, Chamber President and CEO Kelly Brough joined numerous business and community leaders to voice strong opposition against House Bill 1013, which would allow discrimination against members of the GLBTQ community. The bill died in the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
This marks the third session where the Chamber has stood in opposition to a bill that would allow business owners to refuse service based on religion or sexual orientation. We have always opposed this bill because it undermines our message as a business community that we are open to all—that we are inclusive, collaborative and want the best talent to work and do business here.
“At its core, the premise of this bill is to allow people to use religion as permission to ignore laws they don’t want to follow,” Brough told the committee. “In this case, it would allow businesses to refuse service to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender customers. That’s discrimination. There’s no other word for it.”
Read full coverage from:
- The Denver Post – Religious freedom bill dies in Colorado House
- The Gazette – Annual Colorado bill to advance religious liberty rights dies in committee
- The Colorado Independent – State House says hell no on religious exemptions bill
- Denverite – Colorado leaders gather to speak out against religious freedom bill in advance of voting
To read our full testimony click here.
The Chamber is taking positions on bills weekly during the legislative session. Click here to see all the bills the Chamber has taken positions on this session.