St. Paul voters repeal

gay rights law by 2-1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Voters repealed the gay rights section of St. Paul's human rights ordinance yesterday, approving an initiative by about 2-1.

With 140 of the city's 161 precincts counted, there were 46,530 votes in favor of the initiative and 24,989 against.

The vote deletes from the human rights ordinance a 4-yearold amendment prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment, education and public accommodation on the basis of *sexual and affectional *preference."

Shouts of "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord!" greeted announcements of vote totals at Temple Baptist Church, where about 200 proponents of the initiative gathered after the polls closed.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Richard Angwin, was a leader of the repeal effort. He said the vote means homosexuals "will have to keep their sin quiet."

In a victory address 90 minutes after the polls closed, Angwin called the amendment, approved by the City Council four years ago, "a travesty that the people

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of St. Paul would never have stood for had we been given the opportunity to vote."

Kerry Woodward, campaign manager for St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights, said Angwin and his followers based their campaign on "fear, hatred and deceitful tactics."

"The people in this city do not realize that gay people are their own children, co-workers and next door neighbors," she said. "Gay people are ordinary people deserving of basic human rights.”

Citizens Alert for Morality, led by Angwin, got the initiative on the ballot and campaigned for repeal with pleas similar to those that singer Anita Bryant's Save Our Children group used successfully in Dade County, Fla., last year.

Angwin had conferred with Miss Bryant and her husband on campaign strategy. The singer had been billed for a "God and Decency" rally last Wednesday, but she was unable to attend because of illness. Her husband, Bob Green, and her former pastor both appeared and urged the crowd of 10,000 to junk the homosexual rights amendment.