Source: Rocky Mountain News

On January 18, 2002, the Rocky Mountain News reported that "vandals wrecked offices and sprayed gay slurs on the walls of an Arapahoe County house of worship Thursday in what church officials called a hate crime... Michael Hayes, a gay minister of music at the Columbine United Church... said he was the likely target of slurs written with red and green marker pens on the walls... The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Stephen Poos-Benson, may have been the target of one slur, which was written outside his office door. Poos-Benson said the church openly supports gays and lesbians, and counts them among the congregation. 'We consider this a direct attack on our theological stance,' he said. 'The theological response to this is that we will not tolerate this type of hate in our community, nor will we let this type of hate deter our mission'... Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan said... Colorado law... does not include sexual orientation under hate crimes... 'If it is more of a religious targeting,' he said, it could be charged as a hate crime."