Why state legislature must fund Colorado Civil Rights Division

“GOP lawmakers vote to withhold funding,” Feb. 9 news story.

The deadlocked decision by the state legislature’s Joint Budget Committee effectively kills funding for the Colorado Civil Rights Division beginning July 1. The division and its predecessor agency have been a key part of maintaining civil rights in this state since 1951. Today, the aspiration of civil rights for all remains an important part of what makes Colorado a great state. Now is not the time to defund an agency that will investigate claims of discrimination based on a restaurant’s failure to serve someone because they are black or Latino, an employer that rejects an applicant because they are Jewish or Muslim, or a landlord that turns away a couple because they are unmarried or gay. We strongly urge the legislature to approve the funding of the Colorado Civil Rights Division.

Denver The writer is director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Mountain States Region. Send letters of 150 words or fewer to openforum@denverpost.com or 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 800, Denver, CO, 80202. Please include full name, city and phone number. Contact information is for our purposes only; we will not share it with anyone else. You can reach us by telephone at 303-954-1331.