New Anti-Gay Initiative Won’t Touch Libraries Idaho Citizens Alliance Drops Provision That Would Have Libraries Banning Access To Materials On Homosexuality

The Idaho Citizens Alliance on Wednesday eliminated restrictions on library access to information in an attempt to make its anti-gay initiative more palatable to voters.

The alliance, filing a revised initiative petition with the secretary of state late in the day, also modified the initiative’s language on expenditure of public funds in connection with the homosexual debate in an attempt to ensure that it does not violate free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution.

“It was never our intent to put a muzzle on a professor or a student,” alliance founder Kelly Walton said. Walton admitted there is a fine line between a public employee expressing his own opinion in a state-financed classroom and the use of public dollars to promote a position on homosexuality.

“We don’t want the Department of Commerce or Travel or any other department to sanction it,” Walton said. “People have a right to disagree, even if they’re state employees, as long the department doesn’t have a position on it.”

Walton’s revised initiative will now be given a ballot title by the attorney general’s office, and then the alliance can begin collecting signatures.

It needs 41,335 registered voter signatures by July 5 to put the initiative on the November 1996 ballot. Walton’s 1994 initiative, which included restrictions on library access, failed by fewer than 3,100 votes in a non-presidential year with record turnout.

Walton managed to collect nearly 40,000 signatures to put that initiative on the ballot. Only 31,000 were needed, based on the formula used for that election.

The initiative would prohibit state and local laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination. Critics maintain it is divisive and unnecessary since Idaho has no provision to give preference to homosexuals.

The decision to eliminate any restrictions on library access contradicted the position of Lon Mabon, the leader of the national movement to prohibit any acknowledgment of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, and the inclusion of restrictions in the original initiative filed last month appeared to create some discord among the religious right.

“I’ve had a lot of heart-searching,” Walton said. “I’ve thought about it over and over again. Under the current library environment, no change would have been acceptable. Any change has to be made at the local level.”

One of the leaders of the successful campaign to defeat the 1994 initiative said he wanted to look at the revised version before making any comments.

Brian Bergquist conceded that eliminating the library restriction may well give the alliance an advantage.

Bergquist, however, remained optimistic about the independence of Idaho voters and their disdain for government regulation.

He speculated that Idahoans would continue to oppose “the state passing laws just to pass laws.”

The new version of the initiative revises the attempts to restrict violations against its prohibition to “official statements” that contravene Idaho law, which currently makes homosexual activity illegal.

“If something’s illegal in this state, it should not be promoted in the schools,” Walton said. “What’s so wrong about that?”