Re: “GOP state lawmakers vote to withhold funding for commission at center of Colorado baker case before U.S. Supreme Court,” Feb. 8 news story.
The deadlocked decision by the state legislature’s Joint Budget Committee effectively kills funding for the Colorado Civil Rights Division beginning July 1. The division and its predecessor agency have been a key part of maintaining civil rights in this state since 1951. Today, the aspiration of civil rights for all remains an important part of what makes Colorado a great state. Now is not the time to defund an agency that will investigate claims of discrimination based on a restaurantap failure to serve someone because they are black or Latino, an employer that rejects an applicant because they are Jewish or Muslim, or a landlord that turns away a couple because they are unmarried or gay. We strongly urge the legislature to approve the funding of the Colorado Civil Rights Division.
Scott L. Levin, Denver
The writer is director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Mountain States Region.
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