Romer v. Evans Decision

Date: May 20, 1996 • Location: Bloomingdale, United States

In deciding Romer v. Evans, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a constitutional amendment in Colorado that prevented protected status under the law for homosexuals or bisexuals.

Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States case which held that a state constitutional amendment in Colorado preventing protected status based upon homosexuality or bisexuality violated the Equal Protection Clause. The majority opinion in Romer stated that the amendment lacked "a rational relationship to legitimate state interests", and the dissent stated that the majority "evidently agrees that 'rational basis'—the normal test for compliance with the Equal Protection Clause—is the governing standard". The state constitutional amendment failed rational basis review.