From: rwockner@netcom.com (Rex Wockner)
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 14:30:16 -0700 (PDT)




COLORADO SUPREME COURT NIXES AMENDMENT 2
 
by Rex Wockner                                (257 words)
 
        The Colorado Supreme Court Oct. 11 killed Amendment 2, the 
measure passed by voters that banned laws protecting gays and lesbians 
from discrimination.
        Oct. 11 was also National Coming Out Day.
        In a 6-1 decision, the court said the amendment violated gays' 
right to equal protection under the law, as guaranteed by the 14th 
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
        It denied them "the right to participate equally in the political 
process" and barred them from "having an effective voice in government 
affairs," the justices said.
        "The state has failed to establish that Amendment 2 is necessary 
to serve any compelling governmental interest in a narrowly tailored 
way," the majority added in its 34-page decision.
        Passed by referendum in 1992, Amendment 2 never took effect due 
to lower-court injunctions.
        Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton promised Oct. 11 to appeal 
to the U.S. Supreme Court. She will argue that "the entire framework 
established by the Colorado Supreme Court is improper."
        Gov. Roy Romer opposes Amendment 2 but feels obligated to defend 
it on behalf of the 53 percent of Colorado voters who approved it, he says.
        The suit against Amendment 2 was filed by six gays and lesbians 
-- including Aspen resident Martina Navratilova -- along with the Boulder 
school district, the city and county of Denver and the cities of Boulder 
and Aspen.
        Aspen, Boulder and Denver's gay-rights laws would have been 
voided had Amendment 2 ever taken effect.
        A spokeswoman for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, 
co-counsel in the case, called the new ruling "a crushing blow to the 
radical right's efforts to curtail important constitutional protections."
 
                             == END ==
 
Rex Wockner
San Diego, CA 92103
USA 
Internet: rwockner@netcom.com