Romer v. Evans
United States Supreme Court
517 U.S. 620 (1996)
After several Colorado cities passed ordinances banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, Colorado voters passed Amendment 2, which barred all levels of state and local government from adopting or enforcing any law protecting people based on sexual orientation. Evans (plaintiff), representing a class of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Coloradans and affected municipalities, sued Governor Roy Romer (defendant) to block the amendment as unconstitutional. The trial court enjoined it, and the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed; the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a law prohibiting anti-discrimination protections for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.