Anti-gay forces take

offensive to Kansas

Associated Press

Encouraged by a fresh victory in St Paul, Minn., forces fighting legalized civil rights for homosexuals are preparing new offensives in Kansas and Oregon.

And the fundamentalist pastor who led the winning side in St. Paul said he looks forward to the next battle because it's in his old hometown of Wichita, Kan.

On Tuesday, St. Paul voted, 54,096 to 31,694, to repeal an amendment that added homosexuals to those protected from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

According to homosexual groups, about 40 cities have some kind of homosexual rights ordinance. But some are clearly in trouble, others have been repealed, and many attempts to create such ordinances have been defeated.

On May 9, Wichita will vote whether to repeal its ordinance, which has been in effect since last September. Repeal groups forced the vote with 26,000 signatures on petitions.

On May 23, Eugene, Ore., will hold a similar vote. The city council passed the ordinance last November, but it did not go into force because

opponents quickly gathered, 10,000. signatures.

• In Dade County, Fla., principally Miami, last June, voters turned out in record numbers to overturn a similar ordinance. But entertainer Anita Bryant and a group called "Save Our Children" forced a vote by collecting more than 50,000 signatures.

⚫ In Seattle, two city ordinances grant equal job and housing opportunities regardless of sexual orientation. But a policeman is leading a petition drive to get a repeal referendum.

In Minnesota, spokesmen for homosexuals were vowing to fight. on in the courts or insisting that

the defeats in St. Paul and Miami only obscure larger gains they have made.

But the Rev. Richard Angwin, the pastor of Temple Baptist Church who led the St. Paul repeal group, was encouraged.

"I foresee doing some work in helping Wichita, a city very close to my heart," he said. "The victory

makes me feel like going door to door to thank the folks for backing me."

Disappointed supporters of a gay rights ordinance in St. Paul, Minn., hear their leaders announce the defeat of the drive to stop the repeal of the ordinance.

Associated Press