Freethinkers of Colorado Springs' 25th Anniversary Celebration (&)

2018 Colorado Secular Picnic

August 4, 2018

11:00 am to 4:00 pm

Venezia Park

3555 Briargate Parkway

Colorado Springs

Please join the Pikes Peak Atheists and the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs (FCS) for our annual Colorado Secular Picnic. The Colorado State Secular Picnic is a gathering of agnostics, atheists, deists, freethinkers, Humanists, pantheists, skeptics, and any and all other types of non-believers (and welcomes anyone and everyone else). This annual event has steadily grown since its inception in 2015 from about ten local attendees to more than fifty attendees from Colorado and beyond in 2017. This year, in addition to our annual event inviting attendees from Colorado as a whole, the 2018 Colorado Secular Picnic will host the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs' 25^th Anniversary Celebration.

The Freethinkers of Colorado Springs was founded in 1993 in response to Colorado's infamous "Amendment 2," an Amendment to the Colorado Constitution which prohibited "any statute, regulation, ordinance or policy" through which gays, lesbians, or bisexuals could "have or claim any minority status, quota preferences, protected status or claim of discrimination." Amendment 2 (also known as "Initiative 2") was adopted after a voter referendum, and remains a part of the Colorado Constitution to this day as Section 30b. However, Amendment 2 never became law in Colorado because an emergency injunction prevented it from being enacted initially, and Section 30b of the Colorado Constitution was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. The 1996 Romer vs. Evans Supreme Court Decision ruled (6-3) that Amendment 2 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution because it explicitly "prohibits all legislative, executive or judicial action at any level of state or local government designed to protect the named class." (* See detailed information about Romer v. Evans below).

In addition to providing community, support, and project funding to those dedicated to human autonomy and freedom, since 1993, the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs have worked to advocate the use of reason, defend the separation of church and state, and support interpersonal dialogue, non-violence, human rights, civil rights, reproductive rights, and equality for all. The Freethinkers of Colorado Springs accept points of view verified by engineering, logic, mathematics, and science rather than beliefs stemming from authority, emotion, dogma, or tradition. The Freethinkers of Colorado Springs have worked to advance these goals and points of view through this website (since ~1998), the monthly (weekly when finances allow) Freethought Views "advertorial" column in the Colorado Springs Independent (since 1999), and more recently through accounts on social media sites including Meetup, Twitter, and Facebook. The Freethinkers of Colorado Springs appears to be one of the oldest secular organizations in the state of Colorado.

Everybody is welcome at the 2018 Colorado Secular Picnic and Freethinkers of Colorado Springs' 25th Anniversary Celebration. No matter where you may be on your journey of life and or your search for freedom, truth, and beauty, the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs very much hope you will consider - and accept - our invitation.

You will find us at the pavilion closest to the playground to facilitate family activities. Please bring yourself and others, food and drink to share, musical instruments (if you are into that kind of thing), as well as your open mind, sharp wit, and hunger for interpersonal dialog, mutual acceptance, and "pot luck."

The Freethinkers of Colorado Springs would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who visits our sites or reads our publications for their feedback, interest, and support over the last twenty five years.  Most importantly, we cannot do this work without our members, and the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs' 25th Anniversary Celebration during the Colorado Secular Picnic will include a brief ceremony to recognize not only those who founded the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs, but also those who have advanced the goals of the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs as contributors, donors, members, and supporters of our work.  

Thank you again. 

* Detailed information about Romer v. Evans

Specifically, Justice Kennedy's majority opinion in Romer v. Evans, which was joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, O'Connor, Souter, and Stevens, ruled that Amendment 2 was an unconstitutional violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution (14^th Amendment, 1868) because it explicitly "prohibits all legislative, executive or judicial action at any level of state or local government designed to protect the named class." The 14th Amendment was passed in response to the issue of slavery in the wake of the Civil War and includes the Citizenship Clause (everyone born in the United States is a citizen of the United States), the Privileges or Immunities Clause ("No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States"), the Due Process Clause (no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"), and the Equal Protection Clause (...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws).

In contrast, dissenting Supreme Court Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Rehnquist voted to not only allow discrimination against "homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals," but also to prohibit them from petitioning the government of Colorado for a redress of grievances stemming from such discrimination.  The dissent (written by Justice Scalia) included numerous strange and illogical aspects, starting with the sentence, "The Court has mistaken a Kulturkampf for a fit of spite." In addition, the dissent illogically claimed that Amendment 2 was "a rather a modest attempt by seemingly tolerant Coloradans to preserve traditional sexual mores against the efforts of a politically powerful minority to revise those mores through use of the laws."

It appears ridiculous to claim that legalizing discrimination against an entire class of citizens is merely a "Kulturkampf" ("culture struggle" - in German no less). Depressingly, in the dissent, not jut one, but three United States Supreme Court Justices appeared to reject democracy itself, by disputing or rejecting the political power of a group of Americans (be they a "politically powerful minority" seeking equal protection of the law or a politically powerful majority seeking to deny a historically ostracized minority equal protection of the law). Furthermore, despite the wording of the dissent, the dispute surrounding Amendment 2 was not created by those requesting equal protection of the law, but by the advocates of discrimination who responded to Coloradans who refused to comply with the religious and sexual mandates by creating and passing an Amendment that incorporated a discriminatory religious framework into the Colorado Constitution in the form of legalized discrimination and a prohibition against petitioning the Colorado government for redress.    

Initiative 2 (Amendment 2) was passed by the margin of 53% to 47% during the Presidential Election of November 5, 1992, and Richard G. Evans, a gay man employed by Denver Mayor Wellington Webb brought suit against Colorado Goren Roy Romer on the grounds that Amendment 2 was a violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Romer v. Evans was argued on October 10, 1995 and the United States Supreme Court ruled Amendment 2 unconstitutional on May 20, 1996. Amendment 2 appeared to set the stage for Obergefell v. Hodges which provides equal access to marriage and established the "fundamental right" to marry, and has been cited as precedent in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down Texas' sodomy law, and Hollingsworth v. Perry, which overturned California's Proposition 8 referendum banning same sex marriages.

Interestingly, future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts donated time to the plaintiffs in Romer v. Evans pro bono (without charge).

Note: Opposition to Amendment 2 was only the beginning for the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs. After 25 years, we continue to advocate for the use of reason, work to advance equality under the law, support civil, human, and reproductive rights, and defend the separation of church and state - all of which appear more under threat now than ever before.

Some 25 years after Amendment 2 the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs continue to advocate for the use of reason, advance equality under the law, support civil, human, and reproductive rights, and defend the separation of church and state. Sadly, all of these ideals of freedom remain under increasingly serious threat.

Please join us in defending the rights and freedoms defined by United States Constitution - and please make a donation, become a member, volunteer your time, or contribute to Freethought Views today. Perhaps now more than ever, the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs needs your support.

No matter whether you have supported the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs of Colorado Springs over the last 25 years by reading Freethought Views, providing feedback, attending Freethinkers of Colorado Springs events, making donations, or becoming a member, we thank you for your support.

Thank you again.