Freedom Writer - December 1994 [ref001] Colorado says no to bigots On October 11, 1994, th

Freedom Writer - December 1994

[ref001]

Colorado says no to bigots

On October 11, 1994, the Religious Right's agenda of depriving gay 
people from discrimination in jobs and housing suffered a crushing 
blow. 

In a 6-1 ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court declared the state's anti-gay 
rights measure, Amendment 2, unconstitutional. The court held that 
Amendment 2 bars homosexuals from "having an effective voice in government 
affairs" because they are prohibited from seeking legislation that 
would protect them from discrimination. 

The decision marked the first time that the highest court of any state 
had found it unconstitutional to deny certain rights to homosexuals. 


State Attorney General Gayle Norton said Colorado would appeal to 
the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the decision had "troubling implications 
for the right to vote." Norton appears to have forgotten that fundamental 
rights are not subject to popular vote.

Exhibiting ignorance commonplace within the radical Religious Right, 
Focus on the Family's _Pastor's_Weekly_Briefing_ wrote: "How an amendment 
legally passed by voters two years ago, could be unconstitutional 
was not explained."

Since Amendment 2 was passed in 1992, civil liberties groups and gay 
rights groups around the nation called for a boycott of Colorado. 
By the state's own estimate, it lost about $40 million in convention 
and tourist business as a result. 

Fortunately, Amendment 2 was never in force because a lower court 
had issued an injunction against it. Unfortunately, other ballot initiatives 
modeled on Colorado's law have been put forward in at least eight 
states including Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, 
Oregon and Washington.  Of those states, initiatives were successful 
in reaching the voters in Idaho and Oregon. The election results were 
not in at press time.

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