In 1992, a state-wide referendum was held in which Amendment 2 to the Colorado State Constitution was passed into law. The amendment prohibited ‘protected status based on homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation.’ The amendment prohibited cities, towns and counties from recognising homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals as a protected class entitling them to quota preferences, protected status, or claims of discrimination.
Amendment 2 was challenge by Evans and others the state trial court. The state trial court enjoined the amendment and the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that the amendment required examination under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court struck down Amendment 2 on the basis of due process and that homosexuals had a fundamental right to engage in the political process.
The case was brought to the US Supreme Court by the Governor of Colorado, Roy Romer. Differently from the Colorado Supreme Court, the US Supreme Court assessed Amendment 2 against the rational basis test under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found that Amendment 2 lacked a rational relationship to legitimate state interests and was ‘inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class it affects.’ Quoting Department of Agriculture v Moreno, the court held: ‘[I]f the constitutional conception of “equal protection of the laws” means anything, it must at the very least mean that a bare … desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest.’
The court concluded that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end, but to make them unequal to everyone else. Amendment 2 violated the Equal Protection Clause and the judgment of the Supreme Court of Colorado was affirmed.
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