Columbus Day no longer a state holiday in Colorado

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Friday that abolishes Columbus Day and replaces it with a new state holiday in honor of Frances Xavier Cabrini.

The state legislature passed the bill earlier this month to recognize Cabrini Day on the first Monday of October, making it the first paid state holiday in the United States honoring a woman. Cabrini has specific ties to Colorado, unlike Columbus, supporters point out.

“I think it’s a great day for Colorado that we can say, ‘we no longer support a racist holiday,’ and we will be able to celebrate a great humanitarian in Francis Cabrini,” said Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Commerce City.

This was the seventh bill attempting to abolish Columbus Day in Colorado. Previous efforts to replace it with Colorado Day, Indigenous Peoples Day or an Election Day holiday failed.

Bill sponsors chose to honor Cabrini, an Italian American and the patron saint of immigrants, as a compromise for both Italian Americans who wanted an end to the divisive issue and indigenous people who wanted to see the day abolished, Benavidez said.

“When indigenous communities continue annually to be hurt and in pain over the continued celebration of Columbus Day, then it’s important we recognize that and stop it as a state-sanctioned holiday,” she said.

The day will replace one of the 10 state holidays, but it doesn’t apply to local governments, school districts and businesses that can choose what holidays they recognize. Columbus Day has already been replaced in some cities. Boulder, for example, celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day.

This year’s bill didn’t receive support from Republicans either each chamber, with many calling it a rewriting of history.

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