Anti-Gay Initiative Headed Back To The Ballot Citizens Alliance Unveils Revamped Measure, But Opponents Say It Is Just As Discriminatory As The Last One

Idaho Citizens Alliance leaders on Friday unveiled a new initiative to ban laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination, with changes they hope will avoid problems that doomed the 1994 measure.

“For Idaho voters, the smoke-andmirrors game gets old real quick, and they won’t get fooled again,” Alliance Chairman Kelly Walton said.

But the group that led the charge against last year’s initiative said the new proposal is just as discriminatory, and they will fight it just as hard.

With Republicans even more solidly in control of the Idaho Legislature, the state’s congressional delegation and statewide offices than before the 1994 election, “There is even less of a reason for this proposition than previously,” said Brian Bergquist, chairman of the No On 1 Coalition.

Walton and other Alliance members tried to submit their initiative, titled “The Family and Child Protection Act,” to the Idaho secretary of state’s office for certification.

But they were turned away because they did not have the required 20 signatures of registered voters. Walton called it a minor setback, and said the measure would be filed on Monday.

“If this is the biggest mistake of our campaign, we’ll do just fine,” he said.

After the initiative is filed, Attorney General Alan Lance will have 20 working days to review it for form and style and recommend any changes to the sponsors, who can accept or reject the recommendations within 15 working days. The attorney general must provide ballot titles on the final version within 10 working days.

Supporters then can start gathering the 41,335 signatures of registered voters needed to qualify for the Nov. 4, 1996, ballot. The signatures must be submitted by July 5, 1996.

Last year’s Proposition One, which was defeated by only 3,100 votes in a record non-presidential election turnout, required just over 32,000 signatures to win a place on the ballot. Supporters had only 38,510 valid signatures by last July’s deadline, but Walton said on Friday that he easily could have gathered 44,000 if they had been needed.

One major difference in the new proposal from last year’s measure is elimination of a section that would have allowed consideration of private sexual behavior as a factor of public employment.

“We feel that we’ve made an improvement there just by dropping that debate and getting on to the meat of the issue,” Walton said.

Also, a section of the new measure would allow public library material addressing homosexuality to be made available to minors only with the direct supervision or consent of a parent or legal guardian.

The 1994 measure allowed minors no access under any conditions and required that the material meet “local standards as established through the normal library review process.” Librarians argued it would have cost millions of dollars to review and segregate the material.

Other changes in the new initiative are more subtle. One is the addition of a title, which Walton said was intended to keep “anti-gay” from being the only label applied to the measure.