It seems ridiculous to think that who someone sleeps with at night could affect who he or she works with during the day --but in Colorado, voters want to amend their state constitution to make it more difficult for gay men and women to defend themselves against exactly that type of discrimination.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Colorado case, in which voters supported a 1992 referendum forbidding special legal protection for gays, as early as next fall. And, in deciding the outcome, the Court will set a new standard for equal rights.

Although it is unconscionable that this type of anti-discrimination legislation is still needed in 1995, it is even more amazing that U.S. citizens would pass another law to ban it. And though the amendment was ruled unconstitutional by state courts, the highest court in the land must send down not a ruling, but a message -- that intolerance and discrimination of any kind are not accepted in this country.

The issue at the heart of the Colorado case is one of personal freedom. Business owners, landlords and colleagues should have the right to do with their property and themselves whatever they wish. But Rocky Mountain residents have proven that allowing this type of absolute personal freedom only permits small-minded people who fear anyone unlike themselves to wallow in their own bitter slop of prejudices. That personal freedom has been a reachable goal in this country since the first woman and the first black person cast their votes.

Colorado citizens argue that relegating gays to a special minority status will hurt their image, and adopting a law to protect yet another small group will on splinter the legal process.

So why is it that racial minorities and women are protected by similar laws?

Eight states now have laws protecting gays from discrimination, but the Supreme Count must uphold the decision to discard Amendment 2. This is a minority issue no longer; it is one of fundamental human rights.

This law and others like it aim for the day when a person can get fired from his or her job . . . and know it had nothing to do with his or her sexual preference.