Gov. Jared Polis signed a measure into law Monday that officially repeals a provision in Colorado statute stating that marriage is only valid if it is between a man and a woman. The law was necessitated by the voter-approved Amendment J, which requires Colorado to drop language from its constitution banning same-sex marriage. The provision has been unenforceable since the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges decision. 

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, and Reps. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada, and Lorena Garcia, D-unincorporated Adams County.

“This bill will cement the ability of Coloradans to marry who they love,” Polis said. “It’s frankly none of the government’s business to tell people who to marry, and that is currently protected by Supreme Court precedent.”

“Love is one of the most incredible, beautiful things that keeps any of us going, that helps us wake up, and that helps us to make the decisions in our lives that we make, and when we have things in our laws that prevent us from being who we are and being with whomever we love, it drains,” said Garcia. “Today, we’re going to be able to get rid of those discriminatory words from our lives that will allow us all to be free, because that’s what it is — this is about freedom, freedom to marry.”

Amendment J overturned a previous Colorado constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2006. That amendment was rendered null and void by Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. The 2006 law had remained on Colorado’s books.

Obergefell, which the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 vote in 2015, concluded that a fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples.