List of U.S. ballot initiatives to repeal LGBT anti-discrimination laws

Ballot initiatives to repeal LGBT anti-discrimination laws are anti-LGBT initiatives used to target and repeal LGBT anti-discrimination laws.

History

Jurisdictions in the United States began outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 1972, when East Lansing, Michigan passed an ordinance forbidding discrimination based on "affectional or sexual preference".[1] In response, opponents began organizing campaigns to place measures on their local ballots to repeal these anti-discrimination laws. The repeal movement found a national spokesperson in Anita Bryant, who helped found—and served as president of—Save Our Children. Save Our Children organized in Florida in 1977 in response to the passage by the Dade County Commission of an anti-discrimination ordinance. Bryant's campaign was successful; the Miami-Dade ordinance was repealed by a greater than two-to-one margin. Repeal campaigns, building on this success, spread nationally and several other ordinances were repealed. In California in 1978, conservative state senator John Briggs sponsored Proposition 6, which would have barred gay and lesbian people from working in a public school. The defeat of this measure, and of an ordinance repeal measure in Seattle, Washington the same day, stalled the momentum of the repeal forces.

Opponents of Colorado's Amendment 2 at a rally sponsored by the National Organization for Women
Opponents of Colorado's Amendment 2 at a rally sponsored by the National Organization for Women

The mid-1980s and early 1990s saw a resurgence in ballot initiatives, culminating in proposed state constitutional amendments in Oregon and Colorado not only to repeal existing anti-discrimination ordinances but to proactively prohibit the state and any local unit of government within the state from ever passing such an ordinance. Oregon's Measure 9, sponsored by the Oregon Citizens Alliance, failed, but Colorado's Amendment 2 passed. Amendment 2 was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in its 1996 Romer v. Evans decision. Oregon and two other states, Idaho and Maine, had initiatives between the passage of Amendment 2 and the Court decision; all three were defeated but many municipalities within Oregon passed local measures.

As the question of same-sex marriage has risen to greater prominence, opponents of such marriages have turned their attention to passing constitutional amendments barring individual states from legalizing same-sex marriages or recognizing such marriages performed in other jurisdictions. These amendments are listed here. Before the marriage issue arose, some jurisdictions had begun providing limited rights and benefits to same-sex domestic partners. These ordinances also became targets of repeal efforts, with repeal supporters meeting with less success.

Since the 2015 US Supreme Court ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, the prominence of LGBT anti-discrimination laws became the top priority of LGBT rights activists. One of the most controversial, recent, and largest repeal effort was Proposition 1 in Houston, Texas.

Ballot initiatives

Statewide level

The mid-1980s and early 1990s saw a resurgence in ballot initiatives, culminating in proposed state constitutional amendments in Oregon and Colorado not only to repeal existing anti-discrimination ordinances but to proactively prohibit the state and any local unit of government within the state from ever passing such an ordinance. Oregon's Measure 9, sponsored by the Oregon Citizens Alliance, failed, but Colorado's Amendment 2 passed. Amendment 2 was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in its 1996 Romer v. Evans decision. Oregon and two other states, Idaho and Maine, had initiatives between the passage of Amendment 2 and the Court decision; all three were defeated but many municipalities within Oregon passed local measures.

Election date State Goal Outcome
November 8, 1988 Oregon Measure 8, to revoke an executive order barring discrimination in the executive branch Passed with 53% of the vote.[2][3]
November 3, 1992 Colorado Amendment 2, to repeal all gay rights ordinances within the state and to prevent the state or any political subdivision from passing new gay rights ordinances Passed with 53.2% of the vote.[4] Later struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans.[3][5]
Oregon Measure 9. "All governments in Oregon may not use their monies or properties to promote, encourage or facilitate homosexuality, pedophilia, sadism or masochism. All levels of government, including public education systems, must assist in setting a standard for Oregon's youth which recognizes that these behaviors are abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse and they are to be discouraged and avoided." Defeated with 56% of the vote.[3][6]
November 8, 1994 Oregon Measure 13, to forbid state and local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances Defeated with 51% of the vote.[3][7]
Idaho Proposition 1, to forbid state and local governments from granting minority status and rights based on homosexual behavior. Defeated with 50.1% of the vote.[3][8]
November 7, 1995 Maine Question 1, to ban the state and local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances Defeated with 53% of the vote.[3][9]
November 3, 1998 Maine To repeal state's gay rights law Passed with 52% of the vote.[3]
November 7, 2000 Maine To repeal state's gay rights law Passed[3]
November 8, 2005 Maine To repeal state's gay rights law Defeated by 57% of the vote.[3]

Local level

After failing to pass Measure 9 in 1992, OCA turned its attention to passing anti-discrimination bans at the county and municipal level. Couching the debate in terms of forbidding LGBT people from receiving so-called "special rights", OCA sought not only to block ordinances in these communities but to bar them from spending money to "promote homosexuality".[10] OCA was successful in passing over two dozen initiatives. However, in 1993 the Oregon Legislative Assembly passed a law prohibiting local governments from considering LGBT rights measures so the ordinances had no legal force.[11] The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the state law in 1995.[12] Two weeks after the United States Supreme Court ruled in Romer, OCA suspended its efforts for a third statewide ballot initiative.[13]

Election date Locale Goal Outcome
1974 Boulder, Colorado Placed on the ballot by the Boulder city council after passage of a gay rights ordinance met with public outcry Passed with 83% of the vote.[3][14][15]
June 7, 1977 Miami-Dade County, Florida To repeal the county's gay rights ordinance Passed with 69.3% of the vote.[3][16]
April 25, 1978 St. Paul, Minnesota To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 63.1% of the vote.[3][17]
May 9, 1978 Wichita, Kansas To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 80% of the vote.[3][18]
May 23, 1978 Eugene, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 64.3% of the vote.[3][19]
November 7, 1978 Seattle, Washington To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 62.9% of the vote.[3][20]
June 3, 1980 Santa Clara County, California To repeal the county's gay rights ordinance Passed with 70.2% of the vote.[3][21]
San Jose, California To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 75.2% of the vote.[3][21]
1982 Austin, Texas To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance in housing Defeated with 63% of the vote.[3]
1984 Duluth, Minnesota To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 76% of the vote.[3][22]
1985 Houston, Texas To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 82% of the vote.[3]
1986 Davis, California To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 58% of the vote.[3]
November 7, 1989 Athens, Ohio To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 53% of the vote.[3][23]
Irvine, California To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 53% of the vote.[3][23]
Concord, California To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 50.2% of the vote.[3][23]
Tacoma, Washington To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 51.2% of the vote.[3][24]
1990 Wooster, Ohio To repeal the city's housing law Passed with 63% of the vote.[3]
May 21, 1991 Denver, Colorado To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 55% of the vote.[3][25]
November 5, 1991 St. Paul, Minnesota To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 54% of the vote.[3][26]
May 19, 1992 Corvallis, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Failed with 63% voting against.[3][27]
Springfield, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 55.4% of the vote.[3][28]
1993 Portsmouth, New Hampshire To repeal the city's gay rights law Passed[3]
November 2, 1993 Portland, Maine To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated with 57% of the vote.[3][29]
Tampa, Florida To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with almost 58.5% of the vote. However, the Florida Supreme Court later ruled that 462 signatures from the initiative petition were invalid and voided the repeal.[3][30]
Cincinnati, Ohio Ballot Issue 3, to prevent the city from enacting any gay rights ordinances. Passed with 67% of the vote. Despite being worded almost identically to Colorado's Amendment 2, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the measure as constitutional in 1997.[31] Cincinnati voters repealed Issue 3 in 2004.[3][32]
Lewiston, Maine To repeal a recently passed anti-discrimination ordinance Passed with 68% of the vote.[3][33]
May 18, 1993 Cornelius, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[34]
June 29, 1993 Canby, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[35]
Junction City, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed by one vote.[10][35] The measure was later invalidated by a court but a new initiative passed in March 1994.[36]
Douglas County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[35]
Josephine County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[35]
Klamath County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[35]
Linn County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[35]
September 21, 1993 Creswell, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
Estacada, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
Grants Pass, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
Gresham, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
Lebanon, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
Medford, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
Molalla, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
Sweet Home, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
Jackson County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[37]
November 9, 1993 Keizer, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 55% of the vote.[11]
Oregon City, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 53% of the vote.[11]
1994 Springfield, Missouri To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[36]
March 22, 1994 Albany, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[36]
Junction City, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[36]
Turner, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[36]
Marion County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[36]
May 17, 1994 Cottage Grove, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
Gresham, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Received a majority of the vote but not the 60% majority required for passage.[38]
Oakridge, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
Roseburg, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
Veneta, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
November 1994 Alachua County, Florida 1) To overturn the existing gay rights law
2) To bar future ordinances		 Passed with 57% of the vote.
Passed with 59% of the vote.[3][39]
November 8, 1994 Lake County, Oregon To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed.[12]
January 10, 1995 West Palm Beach, Florida To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 56% of the vote.[3][40]
March 7, 1995 Tampa, Florida To repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Five days before the election a judge threw out the referendum so the votes were not tallied.[3][41]
1996 Lansing, Michigan Two initiatives, both to repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Passed with 52% of the vote.
Passed with 55% of the vote.[3]
1998 Fayetteville, Arkansas To repeal the city's gay rights law Passed with 60% of the vote.[3]
Fort Collins, Colorado To repeal the city's gay rights law Passed with 62% of the vote.[3]
1999 Falmouth, Maine To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated with 59% of the vote.[3]
Spokane, Washington To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated with 52% of the vote.[3]
2000 Ferndale, Michigan To repeal the city's gay rights law Passed[3]
2001 Huntington Woods, Michigan To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated[3]
Kalamazoo, Michigan To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated with 54% of the vote.[3]
Traverse City, Michigan To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated with 58% of the vote.[3]
September 10, 2002 Miami-Dade County, Florida To repeal the county's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 53% of the vote.[3][42]
2002 Westbrook, Maine To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated[3]
Ypsilanti, Michigan To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated with 63% of the vote.[3]
Tacoma, Washington To repeal the city's gay rights law Defeated[3]
March 1, 2005 Topeka, Kansas To bar Topeka from recognizing sexual orientation as a protected class for ten years Defeated with 52% of the vote.[3][43]
March 24, 2009 Gainesville, Florida Charter Amendment One, to repeal the city's gay rights ordinance Defeated with 58% of the vote.[3][44]
November 8, 2011 Traverse City, Michigan To repeal the anti-discrimination ordinance enacted in 2010. Defeated by 62.9% of the vote.[45]
November 6, 2012 Salina, Kansas To repeal the city's anti-discrimination ordinance in public employment or housing. Passed by 54% of voters.[46]
Hutchinson, Kansas To repeal the city's anti-discrimination ordinance in public employment or housing. Passed by 58% of voters.[46]
May 20, 2014 Pocatello, Idaho To repeal the cities anti-discrimination ordinance for sexual orientation and gender expression Defeated by a margin of 80 votes.[47]
August 7, 2014 Chattanooga, Tennessee To repeal Ordinance 12781, an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and establishing domestic partnership benefits for city employees. Passed by a vote of 62.58% in favor of repeal and 37.42% against.[48]
December 9, 2014 Fayetteville, Arkansas To repeal Ordinance 5703 Chapter 119, an ordinance to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to be free from discrimination based on real or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, familial status, marital status, socioeconomic background, religion, sexual orientation, disability and veteran status. Passed by a vote of 51.66% in favor of repeal and 48.34% against.[49]
April 7, 2015 Springfield, Missouri To repeal the Ordinance 5781 Passed with 51.43% of the vote.[50]
September 8, 2015 Fayetteville, Arkansas To repeal the Ordinance 5781 Defeated with 52.77% of the vote.[51]
November 3, 2015 Houston, Texas Proposition 1 Defeated with 60.97% of the vote.[52]

Domestic partnership repeal initiatives

Election date Locale Outcome
November 6, 1990 Seattle, Washington Failed.[24]
1991 San Francisco Failed.[53]
May 7, 1994 Austin, Texas Repealed.[54]
November 7, 1995 Northampton, Massachusetts Repealed by a margin of 87 votes.[9]
August 7, 2014 Chattanooga, Tennessee Passed by a vote of 62.58% in favor of repeal and 37.42% against.[48]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Faderman, p. 228
  2. ↑ "Oregon Goes Democratic!". Ellensburg (WA) Daily Record. UPI. November 9, 1988. p. 11. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 "TABLE 15 - C: LOCAL (CITY AND COUNTY) BALLOT MEASURES" (PDF). Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  4. ↑ Murdoch and Price, p. 455
  5. ↑ Murdoch and Price, p. 475
  6. ↑ "Initiative, Referendum and Recall: 1988-1995". Oregon Blue Book. Oregon Secretary of State. November 4, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Answer Is Still No To Ore. Anti-Gay-Rights Measure -- Bid To Legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide Up In Air -- Around The Northwest". The Seattle Times. Times News Service. November 8, 1994. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Group revives anti-gay plan despite vote". The Deseret News. Associated Press. April 23, 1995. p. A15. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  9. 1 2 Dunlap, David W (November 12, 1995). "Gay Politicians And Issues Win Major Victories". The New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  10. 1 2 Kidd, Joe (July 27, 1993). "City officials put gay issue on fall ballot". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1C. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 "OCA gets ready to take its battle to 1994 ballots". Eugene (OR) Register-Guard. Associated Press. November 11, 1993. p. 5C. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Neville, Paul (April 13, 1995). "Appeals court deals setback to gay rights foes". Eugene (OR) Register-Guard. pp. 1A, 4A. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  13. ↑ Neville, Paul (June 28, 1996). "Gay celebration spotlights victory in Supreme Court". Eugene (OR) Register-Guard. p. 1C. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  14. ↑ "Civil rights, marching forward". Boulder Daily Camera. November 18, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  15. ↑ Phelps, Timothy (October 8, 1995). "Gay issues split Colorado cities". Eugene Register-Guard. Newsday. p. 8A. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  16. ↑ Rutledge, p. 108
  17. ↑ Rutledge, p. 122
  18. ↑ Rutledge, pp. 122–23
  19. ↑ "Anita's Group Aims to Help Homosexuals". The Ocala (FL) Star-Banner. Associated Press. June 5, 1978. p. 2B. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  20. ↑ Rutledge, p. 129
  21. 1 2 "Income tax cut rejected by voters in California". The Kingman (AZ) Daily Miner. Associated Press. June 4, 1980. p. A3. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  22. ↑ Vaid, p. 328
  23. 1 2 3 MacNamara, Mark (November 9, 1989). "Losses alarm gay rights supporters". USA Today. p. 3A.
  24. 1 2 George, Kathy; Scott Maier (November 8, 1990). "Only Tacoma Fails to Back Gay Rights". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. B2. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  25. ↑ Keen and Goldberg, p. 6
  26. ↑ "Gay Rights Ordinance Survives Repeal Vote". St. Paul Pioneer-Press. November 6, 1991. p. 1A. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  27. ↑ "A Blue-Collar Town Is a Gay-Rights Battleground". The New York Times. June 14, 1992. p. 35. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  28. ↑ "A Blue-Collar Town Is a Gay-Rights Battleground". The New York Times. June 14, 1992. p. 35. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  29. ↑ Scherberger, Tom (November 5, 1992). "Blame spread for loss of gay rights". St. Petersburg Times. p. 6B. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  30. ↑ Murdoch and Price, p.425
  31. ↑ Irwin, Julie (October 14, 1998). "Law denying gay protection stands". The Cincinnati Inquirer. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  32. ↑ Hrenchir, Tim (February 24, 2005). "Legal battles followed passage". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  33. ↑ Egan, Timothy (November 4, 1993). "The 1993 Elections: Propositions; Ballot Measures on Term Limits and Crime Draw Wide Support". The New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  34. ↑ "Gulf veterans may get bonus". The St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. May 17, 1993. p. 5A. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Egan, Timothy (July 1, 1993). "Voters in Oregon Back Local Anti-Gay Rules". The New York Times. p. A10. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "OCA: Measure gaining momentum". Eugene (OR) Register-Guard. Associated Press. March 24, 1994. p. 4C. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  37. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "6 Oregon Cities, 1 County Pass Laws Against Gay Rights". The Los Angeles Times. September 23, 1993. p. A30. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  38. ↑ "Oregon: going, going...". The Advocate. June 28, 1994. p. 12. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  39. ↑ Terhune, Chad (December 13, 1994). "Gainesville repeals gay resolution". The Ocala (FL) Star-Banner. NYT Regional Newspapers. p. 2C. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  40. ↑ Rosza, Lori (January 11, 1995). "West Palm Beach Votes To Retain Gay-Rights Law". The Seattle Times. Knight-Ridder News Service. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  41. ↑ "Surprise in Florida". The Advocate. April 18, 1995. p. 10. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  42. ↑ "Early Returns Show Miami-Area Voters Upheld Gay Rights Amendment". The Miami Herald. September 11, 2002. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  43. ↑ Hrenchir, Tim; Barbara Hollingsworth and Cait Purinton (March 2, 2005). "Gay rights ban fails". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved August 30, 2009. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
  44. ↑ "Gainesville keeps gay rights law". Miami Herald. March 24, 2009.
  45. ↑ "'Yes' wins big in TC non-discrimination vote". Travers City Record-Eagle. November 8, 2001.
  46. 1 2 "Salina & Hutchinson repeal anti-discrimination protections". Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  47. ↑ "Future of Pocatello's Proposition 1". Kpvi.com. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  48. 1 2 Ordinance 12781
  49. ↑ Voters repeal Fayetteville Civil Rights Administration ordinance
  50. ↑ SUMMARY REPORT
  51. ↑ SUMMARY REPORT City of Fayetteville Special E Unofficial Results
  52. ↑ Houston Voters Reject Broad Anti-Discrimination Ordinance
  53. ↑ "Euthanasia, Term Limits Among Key Ballot Issues". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 6, 1991. p. A14.
  54. ↑ "Austin City Council revisiting domestic partner benefits issue". The Dallas Voice. February 3, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
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