Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996)

"A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws."

Colorado, 1992. Cities like Denver, Aspen, and Boulder outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. But state voters shoot down those laws by passing a referendum, "Amendment 2," that forbids state or local government to "protect the status of persons based on their homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation." The cities appeal to the Supreme Court.

Colorado claims homosexuals have the same rights as everybody. All Amendment 2 does is deny them special rights. The Supreme Court disagrees. "The amendment," writes Justice Kennedy, "withdraws from homosexuals, but no others, the specific legal protection from the injuries caused by discrimination. It identifies persons by a single trait and then denies them protection across the board. A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws. Amendment 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause."

For more...

Conservative Defends Supreme Court Colorado Opinion Los Angeles Daily Journal June 4, 1996

Entered into U.S. Congressional Record by Representative Barney Frank

The Gay Rights Controversy Exploring Constitutional Conflicts

AMENDMENT 14 Due Process and Equal Protection of the Law

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [^].

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