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The moment people went wild for Colorado’s first ‘first man’

Posted at 6:59 AM, Nov 07, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-07 11:12:37-05

In one of election night’s many firsts, Colorado elected Jared Polis, who will be the country’s first openly gay governor. Not only is Polis open about his sexuality, he has a long-term partner named Marlon Reis.

The realization that there wouldn’t just be a barrier-breaking gay man in the governor’s mansion, but a gay couple, was not lost on Polis’ supporters.

They went nuts when Polis introduced Reis as the state’s “first, first man” during his victory speech.

“I want to thank … my personal support network — first and foremost, of course, my amazing partner, and the first ‘first man’ in the history of Colorado, Marlon Reis,” Polis said to a cheering crowd.

Polis didn’t say much else for a while after that, because the applause kept going and going.

Polis was also the first openly gay man to be elected to the House in 2008, before gay marriage was legalized nationwide. Even then, he and Reis were open about the struggles that came with being a same-sex couple in politics. They have two young children together.