Subject: Idaho Editorial - No On 1

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 94 09:48:10 EDT

Reprinted from the Thrusday, August 25, 1994
[Boise] Idaho Statesman
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EDITORIAL
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CONSIDER COSTS OF ANTI-GAY LAW

THe legal wrangling over a voter information manual
foreshadows what Idaho is in for if Proposition 1 becomes
law.  It is also an example of the damage that comes
from a mean-spirited hysteria that seeks to make one
group of citizens targets of scorn and ridicule.

Idahoans can put a stop to this nonsense come Election
Day.  There is simply nothing that can justify approval
of so hateful and discriminatory measure as Proposition
1.  Rejection of the proposal at the November ballot box
is the right choice.

Voters deserve the information manual the state is trying
to prepare on Proposition 1 where both sides present their
views on this important issue.  But publication is being 
blocked becasue the anti-gay rights statement is defamatory.
It claims an un-named state employee is pushing an
agenda that includes legalizing sex with children, amending
marriage laws to include homosexual partners, forcing public
schools to teach gay history and repealing the state's
anti-sodomy laws.

Not surprisingly, the employee's attorney is threatening a
possible lawsuit against the state if the manual is published
with that statement in it.

This could be just the beginning of legal challenges.  Courts
across the country consistently have said that governments
can not single out one group of Americans and limit their
ability to participate in the democratic process.

That is just what Proposition 1 would do.  If approved, state
tax dollars will be used to defend it in court all the way to the
US Supreme Court, if necessary.  Idaho would become a
national legal battleground on homosexual rights.

Accroding to Proposition 1 supporters, the measure is intended
to prevent the creation of special rights and protections for
gays and lesbians beyond those guaranteed to all citizens.
Yet Idaho law doesn't contain any such special protections
for homosexuals, nor is any being proposed.  Simply put, this
is a solution in search of a problem where none exists.

On Proposition 1, Idahoans must decide whether we are hate-filled
people afraid of "the other," or whether we are a people big-hearted
enough to accept people's differences.  Which Idaho would you
prefer to live in?

Idahoans can make the right choice by voting "No" on Proposition
1 on the Nov. 8 ballot.
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For more information, contact the No on 1 Coallition at
208-344-4294, PO Box 797, Boise, ID, 83701.

Submitted by [email-masked]
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