Twenty years ago this month, as I was nearing the end of my first year as a member of the Denver City Council, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Romer vs. Evans. The court ruled that Amendment 2, which prevented local government from protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination, was unconstitutional.
Denver was a plaintiff in the case, and there was much joy and relief at the City and County Building when the court ruled for the plaintiffs. Local and national newspaper headlines heralded the opinion as one of the most important civil rights decisions in decades.
As a city official, I should have had a greater appreciation for all that the ruling meant at the time, but it is only now, 20 years later, that I’ve come to understand the full historic impact of a case that is seldom referenced without the word “landmark” attached.
The significance of Romer vs. Evans was readily apparent to those who had been deeply involved in the case from its inception. For Pat Steadman — a young, fresh-out-of-law-school and a fresh out-of-the-closet gay man — May 20, 1996, was a very emotional day. Today, Steadman is a well-known and well-respected Colorado state senator; that day 20 years ago marked for him both an end and a beginning.
Steadman’s activism blossomed after law school when he became involved a campaign to prevent the overturning of a Denver ordinance that made discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the law. That local effort was successful, and Denver became the third city in Colorado — joining Boulder and Aspen — with an ordinance protecting gays and lesbians.
Yet, a year later, Steadman and others were battling against a statewide anti-gay initiative, Amendment 2. That amendment to the state constitution not only would have nullified all local laws and policies designed to protect gays and lesbians, it would have prohibited any future such laws.
Amendment 2 was on the statewide ballot in November 1992 in the midst of a presidential election campaign almost as bizarre as the one we are experiencing today. With a populace increasingly disaffected by establishment political leaders, the early primaries brought out all manner of non-traditional candidates.
David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, made a brief appearance as a candidate in the early Democratic primaries. Then Ross Perot, a brash, wealthy Texas businessman with no political experience, jumped into the race as a third-party choice. He led in national polls for months, over both Republican candidate George H.W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton.
In Colorado, campaigns supporting and opposing Amendment 2 competed for attention not only with the unusually wild and crazy presidential campaign but also with a dozen of other initiatives, including a bill to protect black bears from people. Right up until Election Day, the polls had the presidential contest too close to call, but never waivered from the prediction that Amendment 2 would fail.
In the end, Clinton eked out a victory and became president, but the campaign to protect gays and lesbians was not successful. Against all predictions, the unthinkable happened: The citizens of Colorado voted Amendment 2 into law in November 1992. According to newsman Ed Sardella, it essentially made discrimination against gays and lesbians legal.
The passage of Amendment 2 not only shocked pundits, it also shook the country. Gay-rights supporters mobilized overnight. They were joined by Hollywood celebrities and, together, they launched a national boycott, urging individuals, businesses and organizations to cancel plans to travel to Colorado, dubbed the “Hate State.”
The only option to prevent the law from going into effect was to file what Boulder Mayor Leslie Durgin called “one humongous lawsuit.” Steadman, former Denver District Court Judge Mary Celeste, and former Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky did just that, and for the next 3½ years, they led the legal battle that ultimately landed at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Romer vs. Evans decision marked an end and a beginning for Steadman and so many others because before the court ruled, gays and lesbians were often fired from jobs when their sexual orientation was discovered. Zoning laws prevented homosexuals from owning homes in certain neighborhoods, and refusing to rent or sell to someone suspected of being of being a homosexual was legal. Harassment and violence was common, with the eyes of the police and the justice system often turned the other way. And in a 1986 decision, Bowers vs. Hardwick, the Supreme Court upheld laws making sex between same-sex couples, in the privacy of their own home, a crime.
After Romer vs. Evans, legislators and courts around the country began to pivot away from laws and policies that fenced off gays and lesbians from the protections and rights that all Americans share. Slowly — and then not so slowly — gays and lesbians become freer to live and work where they wanted, and free to enjoy the same protections as all citizens. Gays and lesbians began to partner with others of the same sex, to receive health and financial benefits, adopt children, form legal and civil unions. And, because of the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell vs. Hodges last year, same-sex couples now have a fundamental right to marry.
The ground shifted because of the court’s decision in Romer vs. Evans. The shift was nudged along, however, because this Colorado case provided a four-year learning experience, an intensive introductory course, Gays and Lesbians 101, that spurred a national conversation. The ugly campaign battles, the boycott that kept the issue in the national headlines, and the advent of Court TV — which carried the two trials and the legal appeals live — opened a door. Because of that case and that conversation, more justice has come walking through that door ever since.
All Coloradans should celebrate today for the role we played in advancing the cause of justice and equality. And, we should be grateful to the elected officials, the plaintiffs, and the legal team for the courage, leadership and commitment that turned a dark time in Colorado history into one of our state’s finest hours.
Susan Casey is a former member of the Denver City Council.
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