Sexual orientation part of the ordinance, so it was basically taken out of the law. However, that was not enough. In addition to the referendum, some of the people who were against the referendum began a recall effort. They started a recall effort against 10 state and tim fuller. Pension state was the mayor at the time, boulders first and only africanamerican mayor. He had been an attorney who took a strong stand on civil rights of all kinds. A bit of awas in for fight when he proposed the human rights ordinance, particularly when he stuck to the position of keeping the keeping Sexual Orientation in the ordinance. He basically did not get recalled, suite five with high think it was around 300 votes were Something Like that. However in the next general election he did not get reelected. He essentially had his political career ended over this issue. He came in not as a gay candidate at all, though it turned out he was gay he came in as a candidate for tenant rights. And other progressive kinds of issues like that. That is what he was known for initially. But very quickly when he, along with eight, you know, introduced andhuman rights ordinance pushed to keep Sexual Orientation in it, he became a lightning rod. He actually lost the election, he lost the recall election, it ended his political career. He left boulder not long after that. The brouhaha over that really had a profoundly negative impact on a lot of lgbt people here, as well as some allies among them. I spoke to the people who grew up here who sensed that maybe they were gay or lesbian and who really retreated from that identity and really retreated from their own selfknowledge. I have spoken with people who were aware that they were gay or lesbians here in those time and how they felt they had to be in the closet, basically, and really quiet about that part of their lives. There was a lot of divisiveness in the community as a result of the ordinance. That has not really died down. There was a recall election, which doesnt happen very often in nice communities like this. Barely had that died down at all when the county clerk at the time was approached and sort of war and we will have some people who are going to ask for samesex marriage licenses. I have a kind of oblique conversation between the mayor one day over coffee who said Something Like be ready, something may happen. I had no idea what he was talking about, you know . And it was noty until the first couple from Colorado Springs came into the office that i really understood what he had been implying. The one herei was who would be deciding this issue. There were two guys from Colorado Springs. Their names were dave zamora and dave mccord. They have gone to the county clerk to ask for a marriage license. She said no, but gold go to boulder, they do those kinds of things there. That is how they came to me. I met with them. I spoke with them. I told them i did not know if i could give them a license, but that i would get a legal opinion on it. At that point i requested of the District Attorney for a legal opinion on whether i could give a samesex license. So, they research the colorado law. It did not say that it had to be between a man and a woman. It did not say that it would be illegal. He wrote me a legal opinion that said those things. Adding that it would be my decision, but that if i wanted to do it, i could do it. We call the couple up and i said well, i have found out yes, i can issue you a license and i well. They came back and i gave them their marriage license. Of course, once that hit the press, all hell broke loose all over. Locally and nationally. Word spread. Johnny carson did a flip on it in his night show. Was the big who radio guy at the time, he did a program where he lambasted me to everywhere and back for thinking that two men could have a marriage together. What was a surprise to me was the hate letters that i received. The hate phone calls. I knew that it would be controversial. But i did not expect it to the degree of hate that ensued. I just have not thought it through to that level. If ie decision was could issue the licenses legally , then it was the right thing to do. Thatas i to tell somebody this was a civil rights or they could not have. After all, i was fighting for our own civil rights, for women. It was not a huge quandaries for me. Believe it or not. To take that step, to issue samesex marriage licenses. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Before the Colorado Attorney general could get in on the act, they have given out six marriage licenses. I got a letter from jd mcfarland, the attorney general. , saying that even though the law did not specify that marriage had to be between a man and a woman, that had always been the intent. It could bepinion misleading to the couples for me to continue to issue licenses because he felt that they might be misled into thinking that they had more rights than they would ever have. That is what he said. He never did say, in his written words to me, that it was illegal , although he did publicly speak that word. The attorney general