From: WAND_M@gold.colorado.edu
Subject: Emotions run high as Denver judge announces ruling
Followup-To: amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Originator: doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 04:40:03 GMT

Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs
January 16, 1993

By Jeff Thomas

DENVER--Technically, it didn't mean much.  Symbolically, it carried a wallop.

All sides knew the decision by Denver District Judge Jeff Bayless would have no 
effect on whether Amendment 2 ultimately stands or falls.  Opponents had 
simply asked the judge for a temporary injunction to put the law on hold until 
a constitutional challenge could be decided.

Those closest to the fight conducted their business as usual and took the long 
view of things.

"We're not pyaing too much attention to this injunction," said Terry Schleder, 
spokeswoman for Boycott Colorado.  "Injunction or no injunction, Amendment 2 
has scarred Colorado for a long time."

Will Perkins, chairman of Colorado for Family Values, which put Amendment 2 on 
the November ballot, spent the day selling cars at his Colorado Springs 
dealership.  His secretary told reporters that Perkins wouldn't have anything 
to say until after the judge's ruling.

But in Courtroom 1 of Denver District Court emotions were running higher.

The doors opened at 3:45 and nearly 100 people filled the benches.  Among them 
was Kevin Tebedo, a family values leader.  A subpoena had forced him to sit 
through three days of testimony.  He stayed voluntarily on Friday because,as he 
put it, "Being here is part of what it's all about."

In the end the big news was delivered in excruciating detail.  Bayless spelled 
out every step of his reasoning, and after 20 minutes, heads began to bow and 
people began to shift in their seats.  Most had no idea where the judge was 
going.

But about 40 minutes into his stataement Bayless hit on the question of the 
day--whether a case could ultimately be made againast the constitutionality of 
Amendment 2.  If the judge found that it could, an injunction could be issued.

"Do the plaintiffs have a reasonable probability of success, given all this?" 
the judge asked himself.

"Yes."

Before it could all sink in, Bayless pounded his gavel and the gallery lapsed 
into cheers and hugs.  A few people wiped tears from their cheeks.  Tebedo 
girded himself for the reporters.

The questions poured in and Tebedo was poised, repeating the same answers over 
and again: "The judge has done something that's fair...This nation has always 
taken its civil rights seriously and slowly...This is not a setback, this is an 
opportunity for the courts to take a close look at the whole issue of 
homosexuality."

In Colorado Springs, Perkins showed little expression as the judge rambled on 
for 45 minutes, jokingly asking a reporter to wake him when the verdict came 
down.  But when he heard it there was no humor in his response.

"I think the majority of people in Colorado should consider this a slap in the 
fact but not a setback," Perkins said.  "We are convinced this law is 
constitutional.  The injunction hasn't changed that at all."

The organized voice of the gay community tried to keep the ruling in 
perspective.  Their reaction was measured.

"We are very encouraged," said Tony Ogden, acting director of Equality 
Colorado, a group founded to "Undo 2."  But, he said, "this ruling is not 
definitive of the outcome of this case."

Schleder at Boycott Colorado welcomed the ruling but called it a "Band-Aid."

In the courthouse halls, though, the anti-Amendment 2 crowd was jubilant.

"I'm ecstatic," said Dave Caldwell of Denver, who got up early to witness the 
decision before reporting to his graveyard-shift job.  He came to the 
courthouse expecting to lose.  "I had thought I'd get back home and get some 
sleep, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep now."

Some hailed the judge's decision as the first steps toward gay equality.

Said Louise Eastty: "I'm going to walk down the street and safely say that I'm 
a lesbian."

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