Last week, Colorado Republicans voted to defund the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the bipartisan board responsible for investigating and adjudicating complaints of discrimination. The board is nationally known for its role in the pending U.S. Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case critical in determining whether business owners have the right to refuse services to individuals based on their sexual orientation. In response, DNC LGBTQ Media Director Lucas Acosta issued the below statement:

“Colorado Republicans’ vote to defund the Colorado Civil Rights Commission is shameful. Every American deserves a government that fights for their basic human rights, and Colorado Republicans’ actions today send a clear message that they’re interested in creating a government that does just the opposite. Fighting for civil rights shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but it’s become more and more clear that Republicans, in Colorado and Washington, are more interested in taking us backwards than fighting to improve the lives of every American.”

See what editorial boards across Colorado have been saying:

Denver Post:  

“With all due respect to the preeminent legal minds of our time, attacking the commission that made the ruling, rather than trying to get at the core of the legal dispute, strikes us as an effort to grasp at straws rather than resolve a legitimate conflict between discrimination and First Amendment rights. Shame on the [conservative Supreme Court] justices and shame on Colorado Republicans for picking up the same straws with their efforts to demand that something — it’s unclear what — change at the Colorado Civil Rights Division.”

Boulder Daily Camera

“If you're having flashbacks to Amendment 2 — the anti-gay proposition voters approved in 1992 that briefly gave Colorado the nickname “the hate state” before both the Colorado and U.S. Supreme Courts struck it down — we don't blame you. Publicly opposing civil rights enforcement seems so 20th century. Colorado has come a long way since then. Colorado Republicans, apparently, not so much. Publicly opposing civil rights enforcement seems so 20th century. Colorado has come a long way since then. Colorado Republicans, apparently, not so much.”

Westword:

“If Republicans have their way, the state wouldn't protect brown, queer, foreign-born, non-Christian or disabled Coloradans from discrimination in all facets of life, from housing and employment opportunities to being denied service at a restaurant.”