Just out., June 07, 1996, Page 11, Image 11

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‘Today’s opinion has no foundation in Ameri­
can constitutional law, and barely pretends to,”
Scalia concluded. “Striking it down is an act not
of judicial judgment, but of political will.”
Reaction from the gay community was ecstatic.
Suzanne Goldberg is an attorney with the
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund who
participated in the appeal. She called the decision
“a breakthrough victory for lesbians and gay men
throughout the United States.”
It is “the single most positive Supreme Court
ruling in the history of the gay rights move­
ment. ... [It] should shape the course of civil rights
in the United States for decades to come.”
For Matt Coles, director of the American Civil
Liberties Union’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project
and another participating attorney, it “marks a sea
change in the struggle of lesbians and gay men for
equality.”
“It establishes as a general principle that lesbi­
ans and gay men are entitled to the same constitu­
tional protections granted to everyone else,” Coles
said. “This is a profound ruling, one based on
long-standing principles that will bring our coun­
try closer to the vision of equality outlined in the
Bill of Rights.”
Both praised the court for rejecting the “spe­
cial rights” rhetoric of those opposing equality for
hoYnosexuals.
Melinda Paras, executive director of the Na­
tional Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called it a
“stake through the heart” of anti-gay ballot initia­
tives.
Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the
Human Rights Campaign, admonished Congress
to look at the decision when they consider support
for legislation “outlawing] same-sex marriage.”
“The highest court of the land has said that no
state can make its gay and lesbian citizens un­
equal to everyone else,” Birch said.
To ACT UP’s Wayne Turner, the decision
“proves that Bill Clinton and his Justice Depart­
ment are irrelevant to our progressive gay and
AIDS agenda. Both President Clinton and Con­
gress have been scapegoating our community the
past few weeks [on the issue of same-gender
marriage]. Today’s ruling shows that we can get
a fair shake in at least one of the three branches of
government.”
The Clinton administration had refused to file
an amicus brief in support of the challenge to
Amendment 2, despite intense lobbying efforts
on the part of lesbian and gay leaders both within
and outside of the government. Reaction from the
White House was muted. Spokesman Mike
McCurry said, “The president believes today’s
decision was appropriate.”
The far right saw gloom and doom.
“It’s a very dark day for the liberty rights of the
American people,” said Gary Bauer, president of
the Family Research Council. “The judges seem
to be saying that there are some matters so impor­
tant that we will not allow the American people to
decide them.”
Jay Sekulow, head of Pat Robertson’s Ameri­
can Center for Law and Justice, acknowledged,
“This does send a signal to America that there’s
been a shift of momentum towards the homo­
sexual community, there’s no doubt about it.”
It is important to note that the decision came
from Kennedy, perhaps the most conservative
justice in the majority, and not from one of his
more liberal colleagues. The New York Times
wrote in an editorial that this “ideologically mixed
group of justices who combined in a stout defense
of constitutional values may well have made it
more difficult for politicians to use gay rights as
a divisive issue this year.”
The decision also seems to auger well for a
favorable decision from the court on gay men and
lesbians in the military, perhaps as early as next
year, and same-gender marriage at some later point.
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For gay men and lesbians in the state that produced Bowers
vs. Hardwick, the 6-to-3 Romer decision is especially sweet
■
5 ■ ■
by Richard Shumate
_
en years ago—the last time the U.S.
Supreme Court visited the issue of
gay and lesbian rights in a major
direct vortex of the storm.
The case o f Bowers vs. Hardwick was
being fought over Georgia’s sodomy law. And
the repercussions of the high court’s decision
to allow states to criminalize consensual sexual
conduct have continued to rumble through
Georgia and across the country ever since.
So the ruling by the court striking down
Colorado’s Amendment 2 was viewed with
particular sweetness here. Within hours of the
decision— despite a 95-degree heat wave—a
crowd of about 300people gathered in front of
a bar in Midtown, Atlanta’s gayest neighbor­
hood* for hugs and speeches.
“How does it feel to have a court say for a
change that you are a human being?” said
AIDS activist Jeff Graham, to roars from the
crowd.
“The Supreme Court majority ‘got it*’ ”
said Harry Harkin* head of the city’s Stone­
wall Bar Association, who read excerpts of the
decision to the crowd. “We’ve won, and we’ve
won big.”
And the win came at a time when there has
discrimination based on sexual orientation,”
she tells Just Out.
A bill calling for such a prohibition has
surfaced in the Oregon Legislature for the past
Court decision fizzles OCA initiative,
two decades, to no avail.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Ellen
bringing double cause fo r celebration
Lowe, who was a spokewoman for the No on
▼
9 campaign in 1992, also took to the podium to
suggest that the public “change a few faces in
by Inga Sorensen
the Legislature,” in order for social justice
causes
to prevail. She called upon voters to
aimed
at
making
gay
men
and
lesbians
“un­
everal hundred people turned out for
support a “good initiative” such as one aimed
equal to everyone else.”
a celebratory rally at Pioneer Court­
at
increasing the minimum wage in Oregon.
“It’s
not
often
that
the
Supreme
Court
makes
house Square on May 26.
Lowe added that even though “Lon Mabon
our day,” said Julie Davis, executive director
The event, orchestrated by Basic
may
be forced to get a real life,” his message
of
Basic
Rights
Oregon,
to
the
upbeat
crowd
Rights Oregon* was one of many gath­
still resonates in the minds of some.
which responded with laughter and scattered
erings nationwide designed to celebrate the
Amendment 2, which never took effect due
applause.
May 20 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Amend­
to court challenges, would have dismantled
While the “ruling is music to our ears,”
ment 2, the controversial anti-gay-rights ini­
existing
laws prohibiting discrimination based
Davis
warned
people
against
becoming
com­
tiative approved by Colorado voters in 1992.
on sexual orientation and barred future mea­
placent.
In a 6-3 decision being hailed by human rights
sures from taking effect. Oregon officials were
“We
must
capitalize
upon
the
momentum
advocates, the high court struck down the
I
among
those who filed amicus briefs to the
of victory to pass statewide legislation barring
measure, maintaining the amendment was
been quite a bit for the state’s gay men and
lesbians to be discouraged about. Gov. Zell
Miller recently signed an anti-gay marriage
bill into law. The Georgia Supreme Court
again shot down a fresh assault on the sodomy
law. A Georgia congressman, Rep. Bob Bair,
is the chief sponsor o f federal anti-gay mar­
riage legislation. And the county commission
i n the metro area’s third-largest county, Cobb,
has refused to repeal its anti-gay rights resolu­
tion despite international condemnation.
Shortly after the sodomy law decision, a
communitywide emergency meeting was held
to plot strategy. The first decision was to
organize a gathering—be it protest or celebra­
tion— the day the Amendment 2 decision came
down.
Mona Bennett of ACT UP-Adanta led the
crowd in chants of “victory, victory.” But she
tempered that with reminders that much re­
mains to be done in a state where Attorney
General Michael Bowers—who 10 years ago
got the Supreme Court to go along with his
views in Bowers vs. Hardwick—is considered
the leading candidate for governor in 1998.
“People don’t change because they see the
light,” Bennett said. “They change because
they feel the heat.”
U.S. Supreme Court opposing Amendment 2.
In 1992 and 1994, the Oregon Citizens
Alliance unsuccessfully pushed two similar
measures, and it has abandoned its drive to
gather signatures for mi initiative poised for
the November ballot due to the Supreme
Court's ruling.
“But that doesn’t mean our work is done,”
stresses Davis.
Her group recently unveiled its “FairWork­
place” video, which strives to educate employ­
ers and the general public about a tough legal
reality: People throughout Oregon can be fired
from their jobs, with no legal recourse, based
solely on their perceived sexual orientation.
Davis says a handful of companies have
already expressed an interest in ‘T air Work­
place,” including Bank o f America, Nike and
Nordstrom. She adds that those interested in
having the video aired in their workplaces
should contact Basic Rights Oregon at
222-6151.