Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), the first out gay man to be elected as a state’s governor in the U.S., just tested positive for the novel coronavirus. His partner, Marlon Reis, has as well.
Polis has been in quarantine since this past Wednesday after he was possibly exposed to the virus. On Saturday, he tested positive for it.
Related: A Republican compared coronavirus measures to Nazis. His gay, Jewish governor wasn’t having it.
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In a statement, Polis said that both he and First Gentleman Reis are showing no symptoms so far and are “feeling well.”
“Marlon and I are feeling well so far, and are in good spirits,” Polis said in the statement. “No person or family is immune to this virus. I urge every Coloradan to practice caution, limit public interactions, wear a mask in public, stay six feet from others, and wash your hands regularly.”
Polis has faced stiff pushback from Republicans in his state because of measures he took to slow the spread of the pandemic.
Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville (R), for example, said in a talk radio interview in April that stay-at-home orders and other measures taken by local governments are, in general, part of a “Gestapo-like mentality.”
“As a Jewish American who lost family in the Holocaust, I’m offended by any comparison to Nazism,” Polis said at a later press event.
“I should have said authoritarian, not Gestapo,” Neville told the Denver Post in response to the governor’s reaction. “And I think authoritarian is still accurate.”
In another incident, Loveland, Colorado resident Michael Drewer painted “OPEN OUR GYMS FAGGOT” on his truck in response to the state closing businesses to limit the spread of the virus.
The pandemic is hitting Colorado particularly hard. Last week, Polis issued an executive order that allowed hospitals that are at capacity to refuse new admissions. An estimated one in 49 residents of the state had the virus last week, according to state officials.
Polis also extended an executive order that gave a one-time payment to low-income people applying for unemployment benefits.
