The Idaho Statesman
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Andrus: Keep hate out of Idaho
Governor, attorney general
say Idaho doesn't want
initiative that would limit
rights for gays.
By Michael Arbanas
The Idaho Statesman
People wanting to limit the
rights of gays should keep their
petition drives out of Idaho,
Gov. Cecil Andrus said Monday.
"No matter how it is packaged,
it amounts to the same
kind of intolerance and hatred
that Idaho has rejected before
and will reject again," Andrus
told about
250 people
assembled
in the Capitol
rotunda
for a Martin
Luther
King Jr.
day ceremony.
Gov. Andrus
Larry EchoHawk
Last
week, the
leader of
the fight in Oregon for Measure
9 announced the formation of
the Idaho Citizens Alliance and
pledged to get a similar initiative
on the Idaho ballot in 1994.
Measure
9, which
was defeated
at the
polls in November,
would have
amended
the Oregon
Constitution
to declare
homosexuality
"abnormal, wrong, unnatural
and perverse" and ensure that
homosexuals could not be considered
a minority eligible for
protection under anti-discrimination
laws.
Lon Mabon, chairman of the
Oregon Citizens Alliance, said
the group planned to spend
$500,000 on the Idaho initiative
campaign.
"What we're trying to do is
tell them right off the bat that
we don't need that kind of help,"
Andrus said after the speech.
"You couldn't pass it in your
own state, so just stay there,
because that kind of intolerance
won't be accepted in Idaho."
Attorney General Larry EchoHawk
agreed, saying:
"To them we say, 'We have
nothing to fear from those who
are different, but we have much
to lose by embracing hate.' "
Kelly Walton of Burley, chairman
of the Idaho Citizens Alliance,
said the group would accept
help and expertise from
Mabon's group, but that it
would be largely an Idaho effort.
"I can guarantee you that our
group will bring in a smaller
percentage of out-of-state money
than the opposition," he said.
Walton said the measure was
not anti-gay, but simply would
prohibit civil rights protection
for homosexuals, a group identified
by behavior, not race, creed,
gender or national origin.
January 19, 1993
TUESDAY
'IDAHOANS MARCH FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Troy Maben/The Idaho Statesman
Participants in a march Monday morning to honor Martin Luther
King Jr. hold a rally on the steps of the Statehouse. They then went
into the Statehouse to hear speeches by Gov. Cecil Andrus and
Attorney General Larry EchoHawk.
INSIDE:
Marchers relive the dream/ 1C
Martin Luther King Jr. events/ 3C
How Idahoans deal with harassment/ 1D
