QUALITY
CLIPPINGS
344-0772
IDAHO PRESS-TRIBUNE
Nampa/Caldwell, 10
OCT. 2 1994
Nampans protest
against anti-gay
initiative
By Jon Barrett
Idaho Press-Tribune
NAMPA - Three Nampa residents
took the campaign against
Proposition One, the anti-gay
rights initiative, to the streets Friday
afternoon.
THE ‘94
BALLOT
Armed
with posters
that urged others
to vote "no" on the initiative,
Rev. Eric Wilson-Weiberg,
Mona Phillips and Kathy Wilson-
Fey posted themselves on different
corners at the intersection of
Midland and Caldwell boulevards
to face the onslaught of
lunchtime traffic.
They promise to do the same
every Friday, between noon and 1
p.m., through election day, Nov.
8.
Honks , waves, smiles,
thumbs-up and a few thumbs-
down - what they classified as a
"surprisingly" favorable response
- is what the three got in return
from passers-by.
Wilson-Weiberg , pastor at
Nampa's Trinity Lutheran
church, said he doesn't like to
make a spectacle of himself, but
he decided to demonstrate
because of his strong feelings
concerning the proposition.
"Discrimination is wrong and
Proposition One, if passed,
would discriminate,'' he said.
The other two shared Wilson-
Weiberg's sentiment.
Phillips, who initiated the
demonstration, said her reasons
for doing so were simple.
"I don't want it to pass," she
said.
Proposition One would ban
State and local laws prohibiting
discrimination against homosexuals.
It also would bar public
employees from portraying
homosexuality as acceptable and
restrict library material on homosexuality
to adults.
Dick Selby/Press-Tribune
Mona Phillips, left, and Rev. Eric Wilson-Weiberg show
their opposition to Proposition One, the anti-gay rights
Initiative, during a demonstration Friday in Nampa.
Not all who passed through
the busy Nampa intersection
agreed with the No On One
demonstrators.
Jay Snyder of Nampa called
himself an " individual who is
' Yes On One."' Snyder said he
has read the initiative and that it
in no way violates the civil rights
granted by the United States
Constitution.
"What it does do," Snyder
said, "is keep homosexuals from
achieving minority status."
I don't want special rights for
homosexuals and don’t believe
in their lifestyle," he added.
The demonstration Friday was
in conjunction with similar, if not
larger, events across the state.
Ryan Hill, a spokesman for
the No On One Coalition, said
there is still a lot of confusion
concerning the proposal and that
a push behind these demonstrations
is education.
"Many people think Proposition
One is the 1 Percent Initiative
(a property tax proposal
defeated in 1992)," he said.
