Congress

CONGRESS

Congress: Amendment II

    Currently, nine states provide some civil rights protection for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals: Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, Wisconsin, California, and Rhode Island. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on February 21, 1995 and decided whether or not states can deny civil rights protection for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. The Court has not ruled upon a major lesbian and gay-rights case since the 1986 case, Bowers v. Hardwick. In its decision, the Colorado Court depended on the U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 1960's that overturned similar measures designed to cease the civil rights progress. The issue is relating to Colorado's Amendment 2, which seeks to repeal anti-discrimination ordinances in several Colorado cities, and forbid the passage of any such ordinances in the future. Amendment 2 supports state-sanctioned discrimination based on sexual orientation and protects such discrimination from redress at local, county or state-wide levels. If Amendment 2 is upheld, it will mark the first time a state constitutional amendment has revoked the previously-granted civil rights of a group of citizens. A ruling in favor of reinstating Amendment 2 could lead to similar initiatives in those states, especially with the recent increase in conservative legislators. Anti-lesbian and gay initiatives with significantly different wording may not be a big affect even if Amendment 2 is ruled unconstitutionally by the Court.

The Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court delivered a significant civil rights breakthrough in Romer v. Evans, rejecting Colorado's anti-lesbian and gay amendment to the state's constitution, enacted by a 1992 ballot measure known as "Amendment 2." Less certain is the decision's impact upon sodomy laws, prohibitions on same-sex marriage and the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The Colorado constitutional amendment, approved by 53 percent of voters, repealed existing anti-discrimination ordinances in Aspen, Boulder and Denver and prohibited the passage of any such future ordinances. The Colorado Supreme Court declared Amendment 2 unconstitutional in 1994. Governor Bob Dole has been using same-sex marriage to drive a wedge between President Clinton and the lesbian and gay community. Dole recently sponsored the inappropriately-named Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), an unprecedented attempt to bring the definition of marriage into the federal arena when marriage law has always been the domain of the states. Caving into religious political extremists, Clinton agreed to sign the anti-marriage bill, which also gives states the power to deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states -- a clearly unconstitutional practice under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution. Regardless of DOMA, the same-sex marriage battle will return to the states where it has been fought for the past year. Of the anti-marriage bills introduced in 37 states, 19 are dead, 15 have been enacted, and three are pending. Religious extremists vow to reintroduce bills in states that didn't ban same-sex marriage this year.

Civil Rights

    This is the central issue, which President Clinton dares not raise plainly. He asserted that "gays and lesbians" are "Americans in every sense of the word;" but he did not announce that homosexuality is every bit as good as heterosexuality, or that as Americans we ought to be apathetic about our distinguished character. How could he, when as president he agreed to a policy that forbids members of the U.S. military to be openly homosexual, and to a law that defines marriage as a heterosexual union only and that protects states from being compelled to recognize homosexual marriages? All that Clinton has established rhetorically is that homosexuals are part of the American family. The crucial question of whether homosexuality is good in itself -- whether it is something, say, that we would wish for on behalf of our children and friends, this was the aspect of it that Clinton did not address.

Homosexuality in the Military

    In 1961, sodomy and homosexual behavior were crimes in all 50 states, and homosexuals have been excluded from military service for more than 375 years of American history. Male to male sex is the number one cause for the spread of AIDS and the majority of serious sexually transmitted diseases in America, yet the headlines in the Los Angeles Times on January 8, 1993, screamed, "Clinton Aides Urge Quick End to Military Ban on Homosexuals." Why this radical change in America's way of life? Should homosexuals be allowed to openly serve in America's military when there should be no reasons to ban homosexuals in the military? Rights should not be removed from those that are gay since the military is seriously something that requires as many trained individuals as much as possible. The government should not discriminate against homosexuals but instead be more encouraging and recruit. In times of war, as long as there are members serving, the issue of homosexuality should be disregarded because cooperation can build a stronger nation.

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