by Marie-Amélie George
Abstract
Romer v. Evans was a watershed moment in queer constitutional history. In Romer, the Supreme Court struck down Amendment 2, a citizen-enacted Colorado law that prevented governmental entities from protecting gays, lesbians, and bisexuals from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. The decision inaugurated a new era in Supreme Court jurisprudence, one in which the Court would increasingly rule in favor of LGBTQ+ rights. Although the outcome of Romer is well-known, as is its reasoning, the events that produced the jurisprudential turn have largely been forgotten. This Article excavates this missing history.
This Article details the origins, evolution, and implications of Colorado’s Amendment 2, explaining its connections to a similar antiqueer initiative in Oregon, Measure 9. Although scholars have treated these as separate phenomena, this Article shows that they were, in fact, intertwined. By unearthing the events in Colorado and Oregon, this Article reveals the stakes and consequences of the Romer decision, which did more than overturn a discriminatory law. The ruling also undermined a larger, coordinated anti-queer campaign that was spreading around the country. Additionally, this Article’s analysis of the ballot measure campaigns reveals how events on the ground, which do not appear in the Court’s ruling, shaped doctrinal developments. It therefore contributes to scholarship that examines how judges are influenced by the political context in which they adjudicate legal disputes.