A Ban on Gay-Rights Laws Is Put on Hold in Colorado
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A state judge in Denver today blocked Colorado from enforcing an anti-gay rights measure until he can decide in a trial whether the law violates the Federal or State Constitution. The judge said the law could pose “real, immediate and irreparable injury” to homosexuals. The measure, approved in a referendum in November, would have barred any law that protects homosexuals from discrimination. It has provoked a maelstrom in Colorado and prompted a boycott of the state by many tourists and organizations. Some boycott supporters called for the protest to continue until the measure was overturned. The measure, which would have taken effect today, would have repealed gay-rights laws in Denver, Aspen and Boulder, where voters opposed the measure in the November election. Majorities in rural regions, Denver suburbs and Colorado Springs supported it. As word of the ruling swept down the steps of the Denver City and County building to where hundreds of homosexuals and supporters of gay rights had gathered, cheers erupted. . “The gay and lesbian community across the country can breathe a collective sigh of relief,” said Suzanne Goldberg, a lawyer for Lambda Legal Defense, an organization that seeks to protect gay and lesbian rights. “It’s unfortunate and painful that lesbians and gay men have to continue to fight for basic civil rights.” Judge Jeffrey Bayless of Denver District Court ordered the injunction after four days of hearings that turned on the question of whether the law, known here as Amendment 2, would breach the equal-protection guarantee in the Constitution. The full trial will be heard in Judge Bayless’s court late this year. The injunction does not necessarily mean that the judge is leaning toward overturning the law. To win the injunction, the plaintiffs needed only to demonstrate a “reasonable probability of success” at a full trial. To overturn the law, they will have to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the measure violates either the Federal or state Constitution. Judge Bayless also said Colorado law emphasizes the need to preserve the status quo when possible. Since Amendment 2 has never been part of the law, he said there was little risk in delaying its enforcement until the constitutional questions are resolved. Legal experts say the final ruling in the Colorado case could shape new legal standards on the civil rights of homosexuals. “This is a tremendously significant case,” said Gene R. Nichol, the dean of the University of Colorado law school. “It moves into new areas of equal protection analysis. And it does so in a forceful way.” The leader of Coloradoans for Family Values, the conservative Christian group that led the campaign for the amendment, said the delay was not unexpected. “In the end, it will be found to be constitutional,” said Will Perkins, the Colorado Springs car dealer who heads Family Values. “The people of Colorado did the right thing when they passed Amendment 2.” More : query.nytimes.com |