Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino And Partner Joined In Civil Union

Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino and his partner were joined in a civil union ceremony at the state capitol on Saturday. Via Advocate:

Ferrandino and Wertsch had a wedding ceremony with friends and family in 2006, so the Speaker wasn't expecting Saturday's ceremony to be especially momentous. "I didn't think it would be," says Ferrandino. "But yesterday, as we signed the documents... we know that we're legally protected and seen by the state as one family. It's significant." The couple's young daughter watched her dads make their relationship official in the eyes of the state from the audience, with both Ferrandino and Wertsch's parents in attendance. Ferrandino noted that because civil unions allow same-sex couples to jointly adopt, he and Wertsch plan to formally adopt their daughter in the coming months, without having to go through the expensive, time-consuming process of second-parent adoption.

RELATED:  The Advocate says they were "civil unionized." The Grammarphobia blog suggests using "civilly united" or "civilly joined."  I tend to like the Advocate's version.