State Senator Allan Spear reacts to US Supreme Court decision on a Colorado amendment.

The Colorado amendment would have taken away rights that were established in the cities of Denver, Aspen and Boulder, and prevented any new extension of rights to gay men and lesbians anywhere else in Colorado. That threat has now been removed. Spear says the the court’s destruction of the argument used by opponents of gay and lesbian rights, that gay and lesbian rights constitute special privileges, will make it much harder in the future for opponents of gay and lesbian rights to maintain that these kinds of measures are special privileges. He also thinks the decision will reduce attempts to turn back efforts to achieve equal rights, and in that sense it’s a positive move forward, although it doesn’t establish any new rights anywhere. It prevented an effort to roll back gay rights. Because this comes from the US Supreme Court and applies to all of the states, it means that gay and lesbian organizations and individuals throughout the country are not going to have to continue to fight these rear guard actions, freeing them up to be able to move toward trying to get more progressive measures everywhere in the country.