 romer v. evans, 517 u.s. 620 (1996), is a landmark united states supreme court case dealing with sexual orientation and state laws. it was the first supreme court case to address gay rights since bowers v. hardwick (1986), when the court had held that laws criminalizing sodomy were constitutional. the court ruled in a 6-3 decision that a state constitutional amendment in colorado preventing protected status based upon homosexuality or bisexuality did not satisfy the equal protection clause.romer v. evans, 517 u.s. 620, (1996) the majority opinion in romer stated that the amendment lacked "a rational relationship to legitimate state interests", and the dissent stated that the majority "evidently agrees that 'rational basis' - the normal test for compliance with the equal protection clause - is the governing standard".wald, kenneth and calhoun-brown, allison. religion and politics in the united states, p. 347 (rowman & littlefield 2014). the state constitutional amendment failed rational basis review.hames, joanne and ekern, yvonne. [http://books.google.com/books?id=ogoxexgx740c&pg=pa215
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