Republicans in the Colorado House of Representatives killed a civil unions bill in committee by a party line 5-6 vote on March 31. The bill had previously passed the Colorado Senate. The state has a constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples. An “AIDS tax” was one of the objections.

Igor Volsky of The Wonk Room on ThinkProgress.org reports that testimony from the anti-civil unions witnesses was extremely anti-LGBT.

Anti-transgender rhetoric (“If you take all your clothes off and stand in front of a mirror, and your plumbing is on the outside, you’re a male”)  was coupled with bible references (“They found Sodom and Gomorrah two years ago buried underneath the ash heap so that proves right there by archaeology that any society that allowed homosexuality, including the Jewish society, disintegrated completely”).

Then there was this:

“Every Coloradoan now has basically a $112 AIDS tax from gays in the United States...if we as a society allow it to be accepted, we will get more of it...when gays are partnered they are more apt to get sexually transmitted diseases.”
You can hear clips here:

For anyone who believes that LGBT civil rights and HIV/AIDS are not linked, let me refer you to the above again and again until you understand.