Gay Boycott Plan of Colorado Gets Boost

Despite lingering uncertainty over the implications of a national boycott of Colorado, efforts to protest the state’s recently approved anti-gay referendum picked up steam as more activist groups called for a boycott and entertainer Barbra Streisand said she will join the movement.

“There are plenty of us who love the mountains and rivers of that truly beautiful state, but we must now say clearly that the moral climate there is no longer acceptable,” Streisand said Wednesday night as she was honored during a star-studded benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles. “And if we’re asked to, we must refuse to play where they discriminate.”

Streisand’s remarks were a high-profile boost to attempts to persuade Hollywood entertainers to stay away from one of their favorite playgrounds.

“I was sitting there and nearly fell out of my seat,” said Philip Lobel, a Los Angeles publicist who attended the benefit and is trying to orchestrate a Hollywood boycott through a group called COFFIN--Coloradans and Californians for Fairness in the Nation.

In Denver, a new group formed mostly of gay and lesbian activists called Thursday for a boycott in protest of Amendment 2, a state constitutional amendment that passed this month with 53% of the vote. The amendment rescinds several local gay rights ordinances and prevents the adoption of any such measures in Colorado.

“We are calling upon all the citizens of the United States and of the world to boycott Colorado as a destination for business or recreational purposes and to boycott all products originating in the state,” the group said during a news conference.

In Los Angeles, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a media watchdog group, endorsed the boycott and vowed to promote it within the entertainment industry.

“It’s going to be a cancer out of control if we don’t stop this with strong drastic action,” said David Smith, the alliance’s executive director. “That might be painful at first, but in the long run, it’s for the greater good.”

Despite growing support for a boycott, dissension remains within the Colorado gay and lesbian community. A boycott would likely take its greatest toll on the cities that have been the most supportive of gay rights, such as Denver and Aspen, as well as businesses that opposed the amendment.

“A lot of people think a better resolution would be to flood the state with gays and lesbians, particularly Colorado Springs (where the amendment originated) to let them know we do exist and we won’t be intimidated,” said activist Lawrence Pacheco.

“There is no unanimous decision about a boycott, but at this point, I think it’s inevitable,” said Susan Anderson, director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Denver.

Even some of those who are urging a boycott are going ahead with plans to hold the annual Gay Ski Week in Aspen, which had been expected to attract 4,000 skiers in January.

“This year the local group is transforming it into a big protest,” said organizer Tom Mooney of Aspen, who said sponsors plan to hold political marches and fund-raising events against the amendment.

Robin Tyler, a Los Angeles-based producer of women’s festivals and travel tours, said she will stage several entertainment events in Aspen during Gay Ski Week but will donate proceeds to the legal fight against Amendment 2 and to next spring’s gay and lesbian march on Washington.

“I don’t want to be punitive (of) the gay and lesbian community in Aspen that has put a lot of money in” the week, Tyler added.

Smith said GLAAD is urging a boycott without exceptions. “The point is, people should stay out of Colorado until the amendment is repealed or struck down in the courts,” he said.

A lawsuit challenging the amendment’s constitutionality was filed last week in Denver by a number of legal groups and individuals, including tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who has a home in Colorado.

In another development, the Atlanta City Council voted this week not to spend any city money on travel to Colorado. Though a city spokeswoman described the resolution as “mostly symbolic,” she noted that Atlanta is hosting the 1996 Olympics and would have links to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Sponsors of Amendment 2 could not be reached for comment. They have denied that the measure fosters discrimination against homosexuals, saying it simply ensures that they are not granted “special rights.”