Breaking: Colorado House passes civil unions March 12, By Combs The Colorado House of Representatives has just passed a civil unions by a vote of 39-26. Since the has already been approved by the state Senate, it now go to Democratic Gov. Hickenlooper, who has pledged to sign it into law before the end of the month. Same-sex couples would be able to obtain civil unions starting on 1. Today’s successful vote in the Colorado House comes at the end of a tumultuous journey for civil unions in the Centennial state that has lasted for almost a year. In , the Colorado Senate passed a civil unions 23-12, with Republicans joining a unanimous Democratic caucus to vote in favor of the legislation. During a floor debate on the measure, Republican Senator Roberts spoke of her that civil unions would undo some of the damage of Amendment 2, a successful ballot measure prohibiting any of the state’s branches of government from recognizing gays as a protected class. ”In , when Amendment 2 passed, I was stopped in my tracks,” she said at the time. “It was a punch in my stomach. Passing civil unions restore your’s, mine and Colorado’s collective soul we lost in the s.” At the time, though, the state House was controlled by Republicans who opposed civil unions and were determined to keep the from passing. Although the legislation successfully passed House committees (with Republican votes) and appeared almost certain to pass a full floor vote after several Republicans announced they would support it, the died at midnight on the last day of the session, taking with it 37 other bills that were blocked by Republican leadership in order to keep civil unions from a vote. As we wrote at the time: FULL STORY: