Justices Block Colorado Enforcement of Anti-Gay Rights Amendment

The Supreme Court refused Monday to let Colorado enforce its
anti-gay-rights amendment while state courts judge its legality.

The constitutional amendment, which voters passed in 1992, bars any law or
ordinance aimed at protecting homosexuals from discrimination.

State lawyers said Colorado courts set too high a standard for deciding
the amendment's constitutionality.

The amendment would void ordinances in Denver, Boulder and Aspen that bar
discrimination against homosexuals in housing, employment and public
accommodations.

In a suit filed by those cities and other parties, state Judge Jeffrey
Bayless barred enforcement of the amendment until the case is decided.

The state's Supreme Court upheld Bayless' ruling, saying the amendment
"fences out an independently indentifiable group" from equal participation
in the political process.

In the U.S. Supreme Court appeal, the state argued that the standard set
by the state courts applies to challenges brought by groups like racial
minorities but not to homosexuals.
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