Op-Ed: Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs follows six brutal years of Republican anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs follows six brutal years of Republican anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
In the wake of the murder of six people in Colorado Springs, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) says it wants all of those responsible caught.
If only.
The ACLJ is a conservative, anti-LGBTQ legal group and the group behind the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8 in California. Its mission is clear: “to transform American society by implementing a government-run, same-sex version of the military.”
In 2013, the group sued the Colorado Supreme Court for the right to bring about “Colorado’s Marriage Equality Amendment,” and it won. The law was approved by the Colorado State Supreme Court on May 17. It went into effect on June 1.
A year later, on the second anniversary of the law’s passage, the State Supreme Court declared the Amendment unconstitutional, ruling that same-sex couples have a right to marriage. The Court also declared that the Amendment’s supporters are not in violation of the state’s laws on discrimination. In a letter released on July 8, the Court stated that it is “not in a position to change or revoke the existing law” but “will enforce existing state laws regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
The effect of this unprecedented action by the state’s highest court is that it now bans the freedom to marry for the 1.3 million Colorado voters who voted in favor of Prop. 8.
“We don’t regret it, we believe in it,” says Bill Wilson, spokesman for the ACLJ.
In spite of all the legal wrangling and the setback of Prop. 8’s passing, the ACLJ doesn’t see it as a defeat.
“We understand there was a lot of controversy surrounding Proposition 8,” says Wilson. “It’s a decision that was not easy to make because all of us know and support Colorado and the freedom to marry, but we believed in our heart of hearts that what is right is what is best.”
In fact, the ACLJ is currently working with state attorneys on
