After an emotional hearing that continued for hours, the House State Affairs committee on Monday voted down a bill that would have removed Columbus Day from the state’s holiday calendar.

Long-shot House Bill 1135, sponsored by Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, brought testimony by Native Americans and others opposed to celebrating Christopher Columbus. Witnesses cited atrocities Columbus and his crew of European conquistadors committed against the indigenous population of the Caribbean islands on which they landed.

Italian American witnesses at the hearing countered that the day is a celebration of their community and recognition of Italian American contributions to the United States.

The committee voted 2 to 7 against the bill.

“Everyone talks about how what happened in 1492 was in the past. But that’s not true. It’s today — 1492 was an occurrence that changed the world. Maybe for the positive for European nations, as they got rich off of human capital as well as gold and spices and things of that nature,” Salazar said. “But it changed the world in such a devastating way for the indigenous peoples of the Americas.”

A tearful Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, voted against the proposal. She said she was torn between the stories of indigenous people and the acts of terror committed against them, on one side, and her own Italian heritage and the importance her family and others placed on the holiday, on the other. She reminded Salazar that she supported other of his indigeneous rights bills — ones regarding the use of Native American sports mascots.

“I’ve supported HB 1124 to try and give in-state tuition to indigenous people. I supported your (Latino heritage) license plate bill. I supported your mascot bill. But it’s really hard for me to support a bill that, when I look into the audience, I think about my dad and how proud he was of being Italian and the contributions Italians have made,” Primavera said. “So voting for this to me is almost like voting against my dad and my relatives. And a vote against it doesn’t mean I condone the atrocities that happened. I’d be happy with a win/win bill that would perhaps take away Columbus Day and supplement it with an Italian Heritage Day and an Indigenous People’s Day.”

Rep. Max Tyler, D-Lakewood, said he understood the pain associated with Columbus Day, but that he didn’t think taking something away from one culture and giving it to another was the right solution. Tyler, Primavera and Rep. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, joined every Republican in the committee in voting against the bill.

Ramsey@coloradostatesman.com