Latina Lesbian Named To Colorado Supreme Court

Monica Marquez, 41, has been  named by Democratic governor Bill Ritter to become the first out lesbian and first Latina to be on the Colorado Supreme Court.

"It is not because Monica is a Latina or because she is gay," Ritter said, according to The Denver Post. "I chose her because of her analytical ability and her keen intellect."

Interestingly, Oregon CURRENTLY has two openly gay State Supreme Court Justices, Virgina Linder and   Rives Kustler.


Hat/tip to Nan Hunter

MadProfessah is in Denver, Colorado

MadProfessah is in the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado attending Creating Change : the National Conference on LGBT Equality.

Colorado's Only Black Legislators Lead Their Chambers

Colorado Assembly Speaker Terrance Carroll (left) with
Colorado Senate President Peter Groff

The two leaders of each of the chambers of the Colorado Legislature are both Black men, and they are also the only Black legislators in each body. 39-year-old Terrance Carroll is the newly elected Speaker of the House (which has 65 members) while 45-year-old Peter Groff was elected President of the Senate over a year ago (which has 35 members).

This is the first time in United States history that legislative leaders of both chambers of a state legislator have been African American. What makes the feat more extraordinary is that Carroll and Golf are also the only African Americans in each of their respective legislative chambers.

Obama Speaks To Crowd of 100, 000 in Denver, Colorado

Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail, after visiting his ailing grandmother in Hawaii for 36 hours Thursday and Friday. He spoke to an estimated crowd of 100,000 people in Denver, Colorado on Sunday afternoon. A diary up at DailyKos has the above picture and a few dozen others.

Colorado close to passing gay rights bill

Colorado is likely to become the next state (the 20th) to enact a non-discrimination bill based on sexual orientation. Senate Bill 25 is sponsored by openly gay state senator Jennifer Veiga and passed the State Assembly by a vote of 44-18 on Wednesday May 2. Bizarrely, if the bill passes it would become the first gay rights bill since New York's SONDA in 2002 to be enacted that does not include transgendered protections.

UPDATE FRI 5/4/07 8:12PM: The Colorado State legislature has passed the gay rights bill and Governor Bill Ritter has said that he intends to sign it into law.