From: RAKNGLTF@aol.com Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 19:43:09 -0400 Subject: NGLTF on Calif. AG Colorado Brief NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE PRESS STATEMENT Contact: Robert Bray, 415-552-6448; rfbngltf@aol.com Robin Kane, 202-332-6483, ext. 3311; rakngltf@aol.com STATEMENT FROM NGLTF ON CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S SUPPORT OF COLORADO ANTI-GAY AMENDMENT IN U.S. SUPREME COURT San Francisco, CA -- May 24, 1995 -- California Attorney General Dan Lungren has signed onto a brief along with six other attorneys general asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Colorado's anti-gay Amendment 2. The Supreme Court has granted review of the amendment, which was ruled unconstitutional by the state supreme court, and is scheduled to hear the case later this fall. Lungren signed onto the brief with attorneys general from Alabama, Idaho, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia. Amendment 2, passed by 54 percent of the state's voters in 1992, prohibits and overturns local laws that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Associated Press has reported that Lungren's actions were not prompted by "opposition to gay rights, but by support of states' rights." The attorneys general brief argues that the Colorado ruling would extend the same rights to "every and any special interest group" and "cast a long shadow of uncertainty over the traditional right of democratic self-government." The brief argues that the Constitution provides protections only to racial minorities and a few other groups. Following is a statement by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), attributable to Robert Bray, NGLTF field organizer. Bray and other NGLTF staff recently participated in a strategy meeting in Portland, Oregon, with grassroots activists from Colorado and Oregon, to begin organizing in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling. ------ "Amendment 2 is a travesty of civil rights and the attorney general's support of the measure is unconscionable. All gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens should have the right to participate openly and freely in the democratic process of this country. Amendment 2 denies that open participation by canceling any redress for discrimination for gay people. "This case before the Supreme Court will be a test case for the ability of citizens to participate in our democracy free of discrimination and prejudice. It has broad implications for the civil rights of all citizens. Should Amendment 2 be upheld, it will foster an open season of discrimination and harassment of gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans, and place all civil rights in jeopardy. "It is disingenuous for the California attorney general to imply that by granting gay people protection from discrimination, it opens the door for any "special interest group" to seek rights. First, gay, lesbian and bisexual people endure very real discrimination in the workplace, in public accommodations and in housing. Second, guaranteeing protections against discrimination for gay people does not water down civil rights for others. Lungren is playing the politics of scarcity. He implies that by expanding protections to some, it disprivileges others. There is no scarcity of civil rights in America, only a scarcity of political leaders who will stand up for the rights of all citizens. "Furthermore, the will of the majority cannot determine which minority will live freely or not. The Constitution asserts that all citizens are equal and are guaranteed equal access to the democratic process. We must keep the freedom of the individual safe from the prejudices of society. Freedom from discrimination should not be held hostage to ballot box bigotry." --end-- The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is a leading national membership organization that has supported grassroots organizing since 1973.