Victory for Lesbian and Gay Rights in the Supreme Court: “Romer v. Evans”
Romer v. Evans, decided on this day, was an important victory for lesbian and gay rights.
The voters of Colorado in 1992 amended the state Constitution to deny protected legal status for homosexuals and bisexuals. The amendment had the effect of nullifying existing city or county laws prohibiting discrimination against gay and lesbian people and preventing enactment of any similar laws in the future. The Supreme Court declared the amendment unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, holding that it did meet the rational basis test.
The decision, which allowed local Colorado governments to enact ordinances prohibiting discrimination against lesbians and gays, was a very early court victory for LGBT rights.
The Court: “We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. This Colorado cannot do. A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws. Amendment 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of Colorado is affirmed.”
Learn more at Lambdalegal: http://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/romer-v-evans
Read about the history of the GLBT revolution: Lillian Faderman, The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (2015)
Visit the GLBT History Museum in San Francisco: http://www.glbthistory.org/museum/
Learn more at a valuable documentary history: Jonathan Katz, ed., Gay American History: Lesbian and Gay Men in American History, A Documentary (1976)
Learn more: Joyce Murdock and Deb Price, Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians vs. The Supreme Court (2001)