>From the San Francisco Sentinel 8-11-93
based on wire service reports.

The Traditional Values Coalition of Arizona expects to begin a campaign
this month to outlaw ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation, according to the group's chair, Frank
Meliti.

He wouldn't provide specifics but suggested the group would launch a
statewide initiative to put a measure on the ballot barring laws
intended to protect gays from discrimination on the state and local
levels.

Meliti said the group claims 8,000 members and is backed by the national
Traditional Values Coalition. The Anaheim, California, based group
helped advance Colorado's Amendment 2, which would ban state and local
laws prhibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

"This is an equal rights initiative. It's not one that discriminates
against homosexuals, it prevents reverse discrimination by homosexuals,"
Meliti said.

"They're in our schools. Colleges and cities are enacting special
legislation to force us to accept homosexuality as a legitimate
lifestyle, which it is not," he said.

One gay-rights activist, Bill McDonald of the Arizona Human Rights Fund,
said he didn't consider Meliti's group a threat yet.

"But if he starts taking out petitions, then I guess at that point,
unfortunately, we would have to start doing something," he said.

To qualify his measure for the 1994 general election ballot, Meliti
would need at least 105,541 signatures.