From: WAND_M@gold.colorado.edu
Subject: Calif. anti-gay initiative next?
Followup-To: amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Originator: doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 05:54:28 GMT

By Michael Booth, Denver Post Staff Writer
December 9, 1992

A powerful California religious lobby with ties to Colorado for Family Values 
is proposing a ballot initiative similar to Amendment 2, signaling that the 
movement against gay rights is spreading to other states.

The move by the Traditional Values Coalition, led by the Rev. Lou Sheldon and 
supported by 7,800 evangelical churches, is the first evidence that states 
outside Colorado and Oregon are likely to see the same gay-rights firestorm 
that accompanied Amendment 2.

The coalition's Colorado director, Barbara Sheldon, sits on the executive board 
of Colorado for Family Values.  Barbara Sheldon, who is not related to Lou 
Sheldon, said yesteday she expects the Traditional Values Coalition to bring 
similar action in a number of states.

A California businessman who contributed $25,000 to Colorado for Family Values 
also has been a supporter of Lou Sheldon and California conservative groups.

Gay-rights activists around the nation point to the coalition's move in 
California as proof of their claim that Colorado was merely a test case for 
finding the right anti-gay language that a majority of voters would approve.

"They have found what they believe to be a winning formula, and they are going 
to use it in as many places as they can," said David Smith, director of the Gay 
and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination in Los Angeles.

Lou Sheldon helped organize the famly values message of the Republican National 
Convention last summer and is credited by California analysts with persuading 
Gov. Pete Wilson to veto a statewide gay-rights bill last year.

After a sharp backlash, Wilson signed a more limited bill in September that 
prohibits discrimination in employment only.

The Traditional Values Coalition signaled its intent in a fund-raising letter 
sent late last month to supporters, asking them to "prayerfully consider 
supporting a statewide ballot proposition on the heterosexual ethic."

Claiming that homosexuals and the "liberal elite" have launched a "cultural 
war" against traditional families, the letter also mentions the passage of 
Amendment 2.

"While on Nov. 3, 1992, pro-family activists won a measure prohibiting 
homosexual 'special rights' in Colorado, there is no guarantee that a campaign 
such as this one will succeed.  But the greatest danger is not doing anything 
at all."

Steve Sheldon, son of Lou Sheldon and director of the coalition, confirmed the 
group was working with other church, business and community leaders on a 
proposed ballot initiative.

He would not comment on the wording of the proposed initiative, but said his 
group opposes gay-rights laws such as those passed by Denver, Boulder and Aspen 
and subsequently repealed by Amendment 2.

"There is no compelling need for the legislation.  It's an attempt by liberal 
social engineers to force the lifestyle on society," he said.

The Traditional Values Coalition and Colorado for Family Values had no formal 
ties, said Will Perkins, spokesman for the Colorado group, but they did share 
information.  "We kept in touch."

The only other state with a political group like Colorado for Family Values 
before now was Oregon, whose voters rejected a measure Nov. 3 that would have 
declared homosexuality perverse.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corrections, new info, and requests for info: amend2-info@cs.colorado.edu
Administrative comments                     : amend2-mod@cs.colorado.edu
General Discussion                          : amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Boulder/Denver area local meetings/events   : amend2-local@cs.colorado.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to a list, send mail to Majordomo@cs.colorado.edu, with
        subscribe <list-name>
in the BODY of the message.  For multiple lists, use multiple lines.

Newsgroups: co.politics.amend2.info