Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Johnston Speaks to Colorado Gay Weddings about his views - and the #OPENCO movement!

We proudly support the #OpenCO movement and if you do too: 

• ​Post the #OpenCO logo on your business website and in your store window.
• Affirm that you are an #OpenCO business on social media using these sample posts.

Friends,
I read a lot of Supreme Court opinions in law school. Many of them moved me, but none ever brought to me tears until I read Anthony Kennedy’s words in the Obergefell case three summers ago:
    “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. The Constitution grants them that right.”

I was moved by the power of these words, but more by the power of the world that these words opened up: for people who had spent lifetimes hiding their love in the dark, this moment finally welcomed it into the light. The decision invited LGBTQ couples to throw parties and exchange vows, take photographs and try on dresses, print invitations and pick wedding bands. It declared America’s greatest celebration of love as one that was open to all.

This week’s Supreme Court decision clouded the beauty of those moments by raising the fear that every time an LGBTQ couple walks into a cake tasting or a dress fitting, they will be suddenly shamed back into the darkness from which Justice Kennedy’s words helped liberate them.

​"That is a humiliation no Colorado couple should face in preparing for their magic day."

So it’s time for all Coloradans to take action. That is why we are calling on Colorado to launch an #OpenCO movement, where we ask everyone in the Colorado wedding industry — be they cake decorators or caterers, fashion designers or florists — to publicly display the answer to one simple question: Are all your wedding services open to all people?

And if the answer is yes, then proudly display this #OpenCO logo — in your window, on your website, and across social media — to assure all LGBTQ couples and their straight allies that they are doing business with a company that will celebrate every part of their wedding with them.
Join the #OpenCO movement right now by:

• Posting the #OpenCO logo on your business website and in your store window.
  
• Affirming that you are an #OpenCO business on social media.
  
• Sharing your commitment to only use #OpenCO businesses in your wedding planning. 
  
• Recruiting others to join! 

Colorado went through dark days after Amendment 2, when our flag was seen as a symbol of discrimination. Today, we make it clear that our state refuses to go backwards. The Colorado we love is an #OpenCO.

Thank you,
Mike Johnston - Democratic Candidate for Governor of Colorado 2018

Mike Johnston, who is currently running in the Democratic Primary for Governor of Colorado, grew up on the Western Slope. During his two terms as a Colorado State Senator, he passed over 100 bills with bipartisan support, including legislation to prevent gun violence, increase education funding, and promote rural economic growth. He served as a senior education adviser to President Obama and would be the first public school teacher and principal to be elected Governor of Colorado. He is fluent in Spanish and lives in Denver with his wife, Courtney, and their three beautiful kids.