Colorado Governor
Vetoes Gay - Rights Bill
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, May 28, 2005
DENVER -- Gov. Bill Owens
vetoed a bill Friday that would have outlawed workplace discrimination against
gays. But he allowed a measure to take effect extending protection to gays
under Colorado's hate crimes law.
The workplace discrimination bill would have prohibited an employer from firing,
demoting or harassing an employee based on sexual orientation.
Owens, a Republican, said he considered the measure unnecessary and said it
could force employers to spend a lot of money defending lawsuits.
Opponents of the bill had argued that an employer might not know the sexual
orientation of a job applicant or employee but could be sued for alleged
discrimination nonetheless.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, a Democrat, said he was disappointed by the veto.
''It's a good thing Bill Owens wasn't governor in the 1960s or we wouldn't have
civil rights laws on the books,'' Romanoff said.
Gay rights groups said it did not make sense for Owens to let one bill become
law and veto another.
''On the one hand, you have the governor saying it's wrong to inflict violence
on gay people, but it's OK to fire a person because they are gay,'' said David
Smith, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Owens said he let the hate crimes bill become law without his signature because
it was part of an omnibus crime bill. The measure would increase penalties
for attacking gays because of their sexual orientation.
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