Anti-Gay Measure Passed by Voters Invalid, Judge Rules

An anti-homosexual measure that passed by just 42 votes in Concord, in Contra Costa County, was declared unconstitutional Monday by a Superior Court judge who said it violates state fairness laws.

The ruling, which came four days after a lawsuit was filed against a similar measure in Colorado, was hailed by attorneys on the winning side as a judicial trend.

“This is a great encouragement to the case in Colorado,” said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Matt Coles.

In elections last month, voters in Oregon turned down Measure 9, which would have declared homosexuality perverse. But voters in Colorado approved a measure barring state or local governments from enacting gay-rights protections.

In California, a similar ordinance in Riverside was declared unconstitutional by the state Court of Appeal last year.

Judge Ellen James said the Concord measure was virtually the same as Riverside’s, and subject to the same fate. Ruling that Measure M singles out gays for unequal treatment without good cause, James threw out the law without a trial.