U.S. state of
California bans sexual orientation discrimination in the private sector.[1]
U.S. states of
Vermont and
New Jersey ban sexual orientation discrimination in the private sector.[2]
U.S. state of
Oregon's Measure 8,
approved in a referendum in 1988, is ruled unconstitutional by the
Oregon Court of Appeals in the case known as Merrick v. Board of Higher Education, meaning that the 1987 executive order banning public-sector discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation stands.[citation needed]
The
City Council of
Phoenix, Arizona, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in the private sector.
By a margin of 54 to 36%, voters in the U.S. state of
Colorado approved Amendment 2, which prohibited bans on sexual orientation discrimination by cities in Colorado, such as the ones simultaneously enacted in Denver, Aspen, and Boulder.[3] The amendment would never go into effect as it is soon challenged and struck down in Romer v. Evans, in which the
Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6 to 3 that the Amendment did not satisfy the
Equal Protection Clause of the
United States Constitution.[4]
Oregon Ballot Measure 9 is defeated in a referendum. The measure denounced homosexuality as "abnormal," "unnatural," and "perverse," would have prohibited sexual orientation discrimination bans in Oregon.[5]
Voters in
Portland, Maine rejected a ballot measure to repeal a local gay rights ordinance by a vote of 57-43%.[3]
5 — A clause prohibiting anti-gay verbal abuse in schools is repealed by the
Fairfax County, Virginia board of education out of concerns that it promotes homosexuality.