The number of gay lawmakers serving in the Colorado legislature could double after the November election from four

to eight.

In addition, younger candidates and minority candidates appear to be in a strong position to win their races, potentially transforming an older, whiter legislature.

“I think the legislature is going to look more and more like Colorado,” said Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver. “I think that’s a good thing for the democratic process.”

If Colorado doubles the number of gay lawmakers, it could potentially tie California for the percentage of legislators who are openly gay, said House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver.

He made the announcement about the possible addition of four new gay lawmakers at an event Wednesday night to herald the progress on a bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

But not everyone is excited as Ferrandino about the idea of more gay legislators.

Republican Tim Leonard, who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in 2010, testified against the civil unions bill. He said his concern with gay lawmakers is they don’t run on a platform of “pushing a radical homosexual agenda that changes the status quo,” but once they get elected, that’s what they attempt to do.

All four gay candidates are Democrats running in seats where voter registration indicates their party has the edge. They all have Republican opponents. Three are running for the House:

• Paul Rosenthal, in southeast Denver.

• Joann Ginal, in Fort Collins.

• Commerce City Councilman Dominick Moreno.

Jesse Ulibarri is running for a new Senate seat in Commerce City and southwest Adams County.

Moreno said no one asked whether he was gay when he ran for council in 2009, and he didn’t offer the information. But gradually, he said, people found out.

Although Ulibarri is open about his sexuality, he said is not running as “the gay candidate.”

“I’m running as the Adams County guy,” he said. “I’m running in the area where my grandparents raised my parents. I live a mile and a half from the trailer park where I spent my earliest years of my life. I understand people’s perspectives here.”

Ulibarri, 29, who has two children with his partner, went to college with the son of state Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland.

Ulibarri said that Nikkel’s son contacted him recently and said his mother, who was going to hear the civil unions bill in committee, was “struggling with the issue.” Ulibarri e-mailed the lawmaker to say what civil unions would mean for his family.

Nikkel was the lone Republican to vote for civil unions in House Judiciary, a move that sent shockwaves through social conservatives and started the bill on its journey to the House.

The civil unions bill was sponsored by Ferrandino and Steadman, who are gay. The other two lawmakers who are gay are Rep. Sue Schafer, D-Wheat Ridge, and Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver.

Both Ferrandino and Schafer are up for re-election.

Steadman noted that they are lawmakers who happen to be gay but are involved with other issues at the Capitol. Both he and Ferrandino are experts on the budget. Schafer spent years in education, and Guzman is interested in criminal justice issues.