From: RMVLUG_4@FLINT.MINES.COLORADO.EDU (FRANK BERNDT)
Subject: Amendment 2 repeal plan RMN
Followup-To: amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Originator: doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 18:32:07 GMT

SMRY: Amd. 2 Repeal Plan in Works

AMENDMENT 2 REPEAL PLAN IN WORKS
Legislator will introduce bill overturning measure in drive to
wipe out state's 'bigot' image

By John Sanko, Rocky Mountain New Capitol Bureau
Rocky Mountain News, Tues., Dec. 8, 1992

-------------------------------

     A colorado lawmaker said Monday he'll ask the legislature to
put a constitutional amendment on the 1993 ballot to repeal
Amendment 2.
     House minority leader-elect Sam Williams, D-Breckenridge,
said he was taking the action because he doubts the amendment
reflects Colorado's attitude.
     Furthermore, its passage already has cost the state at least
$10 million in an economic boycott that continues to grow, he
said.
     The amendment bans laws that grant protected status to gays.
     "We need to give a signal to the rest of the country that we
are not a state of bigots," said Williams.  "If we give this
signal, I would hope those who are upset and planning to boycott
would step back and allow this (repeal) to happen"
     There was no comment on Williams' comments from Colorado for
Family Values, the Colorado Springs-based group that put
Amendment 2 on the ballot.  It's chief spokesman, Kevin Tebedo,
is referring media questions to the National Legal Foundation in
Virginia Beach, VA.
     Tony Ogden, acting director of Equality Colorado, a group
opposed to Amendment 2, said Williams' proposal "is a strategy
that needs to be looked at."
     "Certainly a lot of people are talking about repeal
throughout the state," he said.  "But we need to strategize an
effective replacement of Amendment 2 to assure the rights of all
Colorado citizens are protected.
     "One thing we don't want to happen is to leave the state
open to another attack from the far right."
     Williams admitted it may be difficult to persuade the
legislature to put the issue on the ballot.  It takes a two-
thirds vote in both houses for a constitutional amendment and he
said it will be an "uphill" fight to persuade lawmakers to take
the matter back to an electorate which approved the measure with
53% to 47%.
     He also does not want to interfere with any separate effort
to put the issue on the ballot through petitions.
     Williams said Amendment 2 was discussed informally at both
the National Black Caucus meeting in New Orleans last weekend and
at a meeting of western lawmakers in Guam last month.  The
National Black Caucus has scheduled a convention in Denver next
year that could be at risk, he said.
     "From an economic standpoint, we need to send a signal to
the rest of the country that the legislature is concerned,"
Williams said.
     "There is a danger here, of course, that the message we send
is not what some of us want to send.  But if that is the message,
then I want those who feel that way to stand up and be counted."


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