ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Supreme Court ruling against Colorado's ban on laws that protect gays from discrimination probably won't affect a policy barring homosexuals from receiving low-interest mortgages from a Virginia home loan agency, a civil rights group said Wednesday.
``This case may not have a direct, legal impact on VHDA's [Virginia Housing Development Authority] recent policy change,'' said Kent Willis, director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. But Willis said the VHDA should be ``wary of the next Supreme Court case addressing the rights of sexual minorities.''
At the end of the VHDA's board of commissioners meeting Tuesday, board member J. Stephen Britt of Arlington asked VHDA legal counsel Judson McKellar to provide members information on the Colorado ruling.
Britt declined comment when asked by a reporter why he made the request or if the board was reconsidering its redefinition of family that now excludes unmarried couples from receiving loans.
Monday's 6-3 Supreme Court ruling said a Colorado constitutional amendment, banning laws that protect homosexuals from discrimination, violated gay residents' right to equal protection under the law.
The amendment ``identifies persons by a single trait and then denies them protection across the board,'' said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority. ``It is not within our constitutional traditions to enact laws of this sort.''
The VHDA in January reversed a policy it adopted in June 1994 to allow unrelated people to pool their incomes when applying for loans. The decision marked a return to a policy of making loans only to people related by marriage, blood or adoption. The measure, in effect, denies loans to homosexuals who wish to live with their partners.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB