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A bill making it easier for gays and lesbians to leave property to their partners and visit each other in the hospital won tentative approval from the state House on Friday, over objections from opponents who said it was an attempt to establish civil unions.

The measure would allow any two unmarried people to make each other their designated beneficiaries.

Rep. Bob Gardner, a Republican from Colorado Springs, strongly opposed the bill. He called it an attempt to circumvent voters who have rejected civil unions and defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat who is openly gay, said the bill is meant to give gays and lesbians, older people, and low-income people a range of rights, including to make hospital visits and funeral arrangements, and to inherit property when there's no will.