House Democratic women on Wednesday showed up 15 minutes late to morning floor proceedings wearing red as part of a demonstration connected to “A Day Without a Woman.”

The show of solidarity came as Senate Republicans objected to a somewhat symbolic resolution that encourages equitable and diverse gender representation on corporate boards.

The resolution – which passed the House unanimously with little fanfare – divided Republicans in the Senate. Seven Republicans joined 17 Democrats in pushing the resolution through.

Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, seemed dismayed that some of his Republican colleagues would object to a seemingly well-intentioned effort.

“What we need to understand here is we’re trying to make an issue here that may not be an issue,” Coram said. “We really do support women in government. We support women in business.”

Republicans who objected to the measure took issue with the legislature urging that between January 2018 and December 2020 every publicly held corporation in Colorado with nine or more director seats have a minimum of three women on its board; every publicly held corporation in Colorado with five to eight director seats have a minimum of two women on its board; and every publicly held corporation in Colorado with fewer than five director seats have a minimum of one woman on its board.

“It is not my business, or that of the General Assembly, to dictate to you or even strongly encourage you as to who you have on that board of directors,” said Senate Republican Leader Chris Holbert of Parker.

The resolution would not require such board participation, as it is not a law, but supporters viewed it as a symbolic statement.

The debate came on International Women’s Day, which this year is focused on “Be Bold For Change,” a call for a more inclusive, gender equal world. Democratic lawmakers who participated on Wednesday said they stood in solidarity.

“We’re standing with our constituents today that are participating in a day without women. We still have important work to do so we didn’t want to take the whole day off and strike, but we thought going missing for 15 minutes and having the board show us as excused was an important way to do that,” said Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster.

Colorado House Democrats are one of the only caucuses in the country that is majority women. There are 38 women total serving in the legislature.

Women chose to wear red to show passion and love for the day of activism.

“We’re taking a stand and spending the first 15 minutes off the floor so that people can better understand what the Colorado General Assembly would look like without women,” said Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver.

“If the women didn’t show up, we wouldn’t be able to get work done …”

Controlling Democrats in the House this year elected the state’s first Latina speaker of the House. The speaker pro tempore is another woman, Rep. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge.

As Speaker Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, took the morning roll call, she noted, “Wow. This is difficult,” highlighting that so many of the women in the chamber were not in attendance.

Meanwhile, male colleagues assisted by filling time with announcements so that there would be no missed vote. Their female counterparts watched from a hallway that connects the speaker’s office to the House chamber.

Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, noted, “Half of our women were missing just a little bit ago. We don’t want to imagine a day without women in this chamber … I don’t want to imagine a day without them.”

Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, said, “We recognize that there are many women who cannot afford to strike today, so that’s one of the reasons we decided to do this.”