From: WAND_M@gold.colorado.edu
Subject: Advocates of Amendment 2 spurn Klan leader's gay-bashing rhetoric
Followup-To: amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Originator: doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 22:48:11 GMT


The Denver Post
January 20, 1993

By Judith Brimberg, Staff Writer

The anti-gay hate rhetoric invoked at the Ku Klux Klan rally on Martin Luther 
King Day had little to do with civil rights for homosexuals, principals in the 
Amendment 2 fight said yesterday.

Colorado for Family Values, which sponsored the anti-gay rights amendment, 
pointedly disavowed the gay-bashing by local Klan leader Shawn Slater at 
Monday's rally.

"We have nothing to do with, nor do we in any way support, Mr. Slater's 
efforts," said Will Perkins of Colorado Springs, chairman of the pro-Amendment 
2 group.

Spokesmen for two organizations that are battling the amendment--Equality 
Colorado and Boycott Colorado--contended Klan speakers merely seized upon an 
issue that would gain them attention.

"These kind of people will spout whatever rhetoric will get them the most 
attention.  This year, gays and lesbians have a much higher profile than last 
year," said Zak Zoah, staff assistant for Equality Colorado.

"We continue to encourage people to ignore them just as you would ignore a 
3-year-old in the middle of a tantrum."

Slater had said blacks should be ashamed of themselves for marching hand in 
hand with homosexuals in the King "marade" that attracted people from all walks 
of life.  He also promised to start a fund to ship homosexuals out of Colorado.

But those opposing Amendment 2--which overturns ordinances in Denver, Boulder 
and Aspen that protect gays from discrimination--said the Klan invective showed 
how the battle for civil rights for gays and lesbians has escalated.

"They wouldn't be standing up there saying, 'You're marching with the fags' if 
it weren't a key issue of discussion," said Jan Williams, Boycott Colorado's 
press secretary.  "But I would rather have the rhetoric than have fire bombs 
thrown into (gay and lesbian) homes or businesses.

Perkins said the amendment's opponents had only themselves to blame for the 
hullabaloo.  "Had Amendment 2 gone into efect like the other laws voted on Nov. 
3, things would be rolling along smoothly...They are to blame for the 
polarization that has taken place in the nation."

The amendment was to take effect last Friday, but a Denver judge granted an 
injunction staying the measure until a lawsuit designed to stop it can be heard.

The Klan's MLK Day demonstration was a showing by the extreme right wing, Zoah 
said.


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