Supreme Court defends rights of gays and lesbians in Romer v. Evans
In a victory for the gay and lesbian civil rights movement the U.S.Supreme Court votes six to three to strike down an amendment to Colorados state constitution that would have prevented any city town or county in the state from taking any legislative executive or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.Colorados Amendment Two was passed in 1992 with a majority of the states citizens approving it in a special referendum.Four years later the Supreme Court agreed to hear Romer v.
Evans a case that allowed the nations highest court to scrutinize the constitutionality of the amendment.On May 20 1996 in a ruling authored by Associate Justice Anthony M.Kennedy the Supreme Court struck down Amendment Two arguing that the law violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Although the ruling authored by a Republican appointee was cautious in its language it was applauded as a major civil rights victory that gave gay and lesbian activists their first major constitutional precedence for fighting anti-gay legislation.
