Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 20:16:07 -0400 From: BoiseBear@aol.com Reprinted with permission of the [Boise] Idaho Statesman, Sunday, Oct. 16, 1994 Main Editorial == "Our View" =============================== APPROVAL OF PROPOSITION ONE WOULD ENSHRINE HATRED IN IDAHO The letters on the opposite page attest to the devisiveness in Idaho created by Proposition One. But if this ill-conceived measure becomes law, then the state will become a legal battleground between national armies of advocates on one side or the other. Proposition One is already bad for Idaho. As a law it would be even worse. It would enshrine hatred. Citizens can stop this irrational and destructive measure by casting a "no" vote on the Nov. 8 ballot. The nearly unanimous ruling last week by the Colorado Supreme Court striking down a similar anti-gay state law is even more reason to reject Idaho's Proposition One. Colorado's measure is headed for the US Supreme Court, and passage of Proposition One would undoubtedly provoke a similar legal challenge. Idahoans would be dragged into an un-necessary, unwinnable and costly legal battle over rights and freedoms guaranteed by the US Constitution. Courts at every level across the country have correctly said that it is wrong to try to limit anyone's right to particiapte in his government. Yet that is just what Proposition One would do. Supporters say it is intended to prevent the creation of special rights and protections for gays and lesbians beyond those guaranteed to all citizens. But no special rights for homosexuals exist in Idaho. Nor are any proposed. So just what are supporters after? The truth is that Proposition One seeks not to protect liberties, but to restrict them. It seeks to codify "sinful" behavior. It sets one group of Idahoans apart, makes them targets of scorn and ridicule, and attempts to ensure that they cannot seek the same redress of their grievances that all other Americans can under the US Constitution's First Amendment. Proposition One is a misguided effort to find something stable and sure in a rapidlyl changing society. It seeks to be an armor of moral certainty. But this armor inflicts wounds on those who would wear it. When idahoans go into the secrecy of their voting booth in about three weeks, they must search deeply into their hearts. They must decide whether their personal moral views are so important that they would impose them on everyone else. They must decide whether they are willing to do so, even if it endangers the rights and freedoms of all Idahoans. When faced with that choice, citizens will see that in Proposition One's zeal to denounce homosexuality, it discards the freedoms Idahoans hold precious. ================================================= Submitted by BoiseBear@aol.com To help, contact No On One Coalition, PO Box 797, Boise, ID 83701 -- (208) 376-1599 or NoProp1ID@aol.com =================================================