VIEWPOINTS » 01 f 0 H IA t OPifCUXS KMIHS JO 1 Mt IDlfO* Supreme Court ruling means new tolerance ■ OUR OPINION: Rights of all aliens should be defended by courts Last week , Ilia Supreme Court overturned Amend ment 2. an amendment that banned aril ( disc rimmatiun protection far homosexuals in Colorado. The Supreme Court** 6-/ruling lui« opened the entire nation's eyes to the fact that gay rights are not about sex but about every citizen* right to equal protection under the law. One of the moat amazing facts about the Supreme Court's movement is that Oregon was one of seven states that filed an amicus brief in the case. Apparent* ly. Oregon'* brief proved to lie quite persuasive because the justices' ruling was formed through its argu ment. With the OfIA currently collecting signatures in a hurried attempt to get their measure on the November ballot, Oregon c ould not have taken a better politic a! stance at a better lime. Hopefully, this ruling will force homophobic religious right organizations to realize the judicial system is no longer on their tide. Unfor tunately. before Amende ment 2 was ruled unconstitutional, the Supreme Court supfiorted the religious right and helped reinforce the stereo type that gay rights were aWit sex. The Bowers vs. Hardwick decision made by the Supreme Court nearly ten years ago creeled a platform for the anti-gay rights move ment Since that monumen tally unjust ruling, many cases of gay discrimination have either been ignored or diwarded by the Supreme Court But the May 20 motion will hopefully alter the court'* perception of these i .jam.. Amendment 2 wu crwit* ed and sponsored by Qjl orado for Family Valuev, a group that most likely share* a similar purpose with the OCA. Though 53 percent of Colorado's voting population approved Amendment 2. which i« a **ar> enough as It ia. the Amendment should have been declared unconstitu tional as soon as it reached the ballot But with this nation's unfortunate history of homophobia, ranging from Clinton's "don't ask. don't teir policy in the mil itary to the impossibility for gay couples to be legally married, it ia no wonder that this amendment made su much progress before it was *tnick down. This ruling should be used as a reminder that civil rights are still being denied to entire groups of people Though many people might say that civil rights am available to all citizens, cit ing the African American civil rights movement of the l‘too* as their prime exam ple, them are many other races and group* of people who are still suffering from discrimination. California's Proposition 187 is an exam ple of this discrimination and prejudice, generalizing that moat Latinos are illegal immigrants and deserve to lie deprived of health cam and a basic education. But the repeal of Amendment 2 gives hope that unjust legis lation that singles out or ignores entire groups of peo ple will be overturned or prevented in the future. IMI , MMUl (one D&CkinTON* I FoR A BALANCED IM>6£7 I TH£ hi£*T Ofy MC R £N£R(>Y eFf'Cltf+CY. TW€ NC*T DRY *€ «NT. r ycK/kwow WHAT VOO CALL TW? - A kifUcrroN Of TW£ AMEAtcah von*? _ n ^ Wttt» ■*=3 Is n{ »s roOAv -d Doesn’t understand Keith Cunningltem's latest convoluted diatribe (OOfi. May IS) promonly bit