Senator Chris Buttars Supports Gay Rights

Sen. Chris Buttars

Apparently the LDS / Mormon Church supporting the Salt Lake City ordinances last week, banning discrimination against the LGBT (gay) community in matters of housing and employement, is the equivalent of a 500 lb loaf of pumpkin bread. Huh… maybe all I had to do was bake more?

In an unexpected announcement today, Utah State Senator Chris Buttars (R – West Jordan) announced that due to the LDS or Mormon Church’s statements this past week, he now supports fair workplace and housing laws for the LGBT community on a state level. “I agree with what the Church said,” Buttars told KUTV news, “that an individual should be able to have a roof over their head and have a job, and not worry about being fired..”

Buttars is of course known state-wide for his fierce opposition to anything that resembles gay rights, including his critical role in working to ban Gay-Straight Alliances in Utah schools. His fame reached national media attention this past year with his now infamous comments to director Reed Cowan for an interview in Cowans’ upcoming film Mormon Proposition, in which Buttars declares gay people to be “the biggest threat to America going down..”

Back in January of this year, I had a chance to speak with Senator Buttars at his home in a community-outreach effort with PRIDE In Your Community. During what has been called the “Pumpkin Bread Talks” Chris Buttars made it very clear that although he claimed to be sympathetic, he was in no way favoring supporting any rights for one of Utah’s minorities, including workplace and housing protections.

So why the sudden change of heart? Our illustrious Senator claims that it was the Mormon Church’s public statements, however inside sources have shed some light on some closed-door statements made by LDS Church officials, including the phrase “we’ve got him [Buttars] under control.”

KUTV’s interview with the Sentator concluded as you would expect, give-a-little, take-a-lot. While with the support of Chris Buttars, fair workplace and housing laws may very well pass the legislature this year, however he will also be pushing to make it illegal for any other city in Utah to pass anti-discrimination laws, everything else will be required to go through at a state level.

Mayor Ralph Becker Signs Anti-Discrimination Laws

San Francisco signed Fair Workplace and Housing laws into effect with Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone in 1979, now 30 years later Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker signs his name to the list of champions of human rights.

This afternoon, before a crowd of 50-100 people, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker follow the recommendation of the Salt Lake Human Rights Commission and signed into law the recently approved Fair Workplace and Housing ordinances with cheers from onlookers. Earlier this year, the Human Rights Commission, led by Jon Jepsen delivered a report to the Mayor and the City Council detailing discriminations that are being visited on a large number of Salt Lake City residents. According to the report, members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community in Salt Lake are being unfairly treated, as under current laws in Salt Lake it is legal to fire, refuse to employ, evict and refuse housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Salt Lake is behind the majority of this country” when it comes to these rights said Jepsen, and something needs to be done about it. The Mayor went further and said he hoped these rights would spread “throughout the rest of the state.”

Paul Mero Pushing Mormons To Ignore The Church?

Paul Mero

In a press release last night, Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero announced a special event taking place tomorrow night where he will address the relationship between Mormonism and conservative thought.  Back-peddling much?

Since Sutherland Institute’s statements following the LDS / Mormon church’s support of SLC’s Fair Workplace and Housing ordinances, Paul Mero has been under some pretty heavy fire from Sutherland’s constituents, opponents and even the LDS / Mormon Church itself.

Jeffrey Holland of the LDS / Mormon Quorum of the Twelve (12) Apostles followed up the Church’s support of the city-wide gay rights ordinances with a call for the rights to be passed state-wide, saying, “Anything good is shareable.”

Unfortunately for Sutherland Institute and Mero, their entire organization and base of power is derived from their stance on gay rights aligning with the Church. So what happens now that the Church has gone ever-so-slightly more liberal?

The tile of Paul Mero’s speech for tomorrow night, Why I am a Conservative: The Relationship Between Mormonism and Conservative Intellectual Thought is pretty telling actually. Now I’m going to at least attempt to be nice and not point at the generally pompous title, which just drips with Mero’s usual “harrumph harrumph” as my family would say, but focus rather on the subject matter for the night. According to Sutherland insiders (who requested not to be named), the speech has a few different goals, but the primary goal is to assuage the mind of those supporters who are now upset with Sutherland Institute’s apparent break from the LDS / Mormon Church. “We have to try to stop the bleeding,” our source said.

As usual in any “sermon” given my Mero, the actual words coming out of his mouth mean little to nothing, just a hidden message coated in smarmy oil, wrapped in a deep voice and disguised in faux intellectual prose. But what is he actually saying? Well Paul really only has 3 ways to go here, he can either admit that Sutherland Institute was wrong and the LDS / Mormon Church has it right and support Fair Workplace and Housing ordinances for the LGBT community; Explain that Sutherland Institute cannot support these issues, but because of their beliefs in their religion they cannot continue to operate publicly; or the most likely of them all, try to convince their flock that they can still be good Mormons even if they’re fighting against the Church itself.

Hmmmmmm, tough decision for Paul I’m sure..

New LDS / Mormon Bombshell (Maybe)

Speculation on what will happen with Salt Lake City’s new Fair Workplace and Housing laws in the upcoming session is flying. But some new insights into the LDS / Mormon Church’s plans are shocking!

Since the LDS / Mormon Church announced its support of the Salt Lake City ordinances to ban discrimination of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community this past week, analysis of their motivation has been the number one topic of discussion. Some think the Mormons were actually

LDS / Mormon Headquarters

seeking to send an olive branch, while others (including myself) have claimed it was just a PR stunt attempting to shift the constant barrage of self-created negative press away from themselves for a while. Even Utah’s (UT) self-labeled and so-called “conservative think tanks” like Paul Mero with the Sutherland Institute and Gayle Ruzicka of the Eagle Forum have for the first time come out in opposition to the LDS / Mormon leadership.

But now some interesting insights are arising from these meetings that the LDS / Mormon leadership held with local Gay Rights leaders of the LGBT community. Apparently one very important concern that the local community leaders addressed was the very concern I posted about a few days ago, that these rights would be passed on the city level, just to be squashed by the legislature this Spring. But according to one source, Church leaders assuaged those doubts, going so far as to speak of one of the primary opponents of human rights saying, “the one whose name sounds like something you’d put on toast, we have him under control.”

So what should we draw from this? Could it be possible that the LDS / Mormon leadership plans on pushing these rights to the state level as the legislative session starts? It’s definitely a growing possibility with ENDA on the verge of passing on the federal level and more and more calls nationwide for these basic protections even from staunch conservatives. I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope.

America Forever Responds to the LDS Church

You know how some people just don’t know how to shut up? Yeah…. for the Rodrigues family, aka “America Forever.” That time was just after they got out of diapers.

Sandra Rodrigues of America Forever

With their constant spewing against the LGBT community, they have now become virtually one of the biggest PRO LGBT groups around! With every other anti-LGBT and anti- human rights group like the Sutherland Institute (Paul Mero) and Eagle Forum (Gayle Ruzicka) just wishing they’d shut up and go away.

Earlier this week at the now infamous City Council meeting in Salt Lake City, which ended with a unanimous vote to provide Fair Workplace and Housing laws for LGBT citizens, America Forever leaders like Sandra Rodrigues decided that showing naivete would be the best road to take. Their rants included stories about the “little old lady” who rents out her basement and would be forced to rent to “the gays” who would make out in front of her grandchildren, and the small business owner who would have his employees “acting all gay” around him. Unfortunately for America Forever, both grandma and any business under 15 employees are actually exempt under these ordinances, but hey.. technicality right?

Times were when America Forever could be counted on to show up at every opportunity with their 12′ by 4′ signs shouting “shame on the gays,” but we haven’t seen them for a while! Where have they been? Well apparently Sandra Rodrigues, chief kook of the kooks, was called in to her bishop a month or so ago and asked to stop being so public because it was making the church look bad!

Now that the LDS church publicly endorsed the fair workplace and housing ordinances in Salt Lake City, the Rodrigues clan is none-too-happy with the Mormon leadership. Below is their flyer that they faxed to 80,000 people and businesses this week. My response? Keep up the good work kooks!

s

sd

 

UPDATE:
To anyone who received this fax and is upset and/or offended by it. Sending out mass faxes such as this is illegal.

You can file your complaint using an on-line complaint form found at esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm. You can also file your complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Center by e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov; calling 1-888-CALL-FCC(1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division… Read More
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.

Equality Spreads To Southern Utah

With most of the country still under shock at Salt Lake City’s human rights victory, the city council’s vote is impacting the rest of Utah as well.

Over the past week we’ve heard rumblings now from both Salt Lake County and Park City that their own ordinances providing workplace and housing rights / protections are soon coming. But now news is coming up from Southern Utah University (SUU) in Cedar City.

Two months ago, SUU’s Queer Straight Alliance Director Ashlie Meredith

Ashlie Meredith

noticed that Sexual Orientation was not listed along side of race, age, religion, sex etc. as deserving of equal protection and opportunity in the University’s policies and procedures handbook.

Since then, Ashlie Meredith has been leading the charge to have this discrimination removed from the school. On Nov 4th this year, the Student Senate passed a resolution asking the faculty to add sexual orientation. The resolution will now head to the faculty senate later this month, and if approved will then be sent on the the Board of Trustees in December.

Unfortunately however, the SUU Queer Straight Alliance have their work cut out for them. The University’s legal counsel Michael Carter has already advised the school against adding these protections, claiming they are unnecessary and unwanted by the community until the State Legislature passes these protections state-wide.

But with the passing of these lgbt human rights protections in Salt Lake City, the endorsement by the LDS / Mormon Church and the pending passage of the same rights in Salt Lake County and Park City, momentum is rolling and the school is coming under increasing fire.

SUU

Currently, only three university’s in Utah don’t include sexual orientation under their equal-opportunity clauses, Southern Utah University, Brigham Young University (BYU) and Utah Valley University (UVU, formerly UVSC).

Paul Mero Splits From The Church

You know, never thought I’d see the day when Paul Mero and the Sutherland Institute split from the LDS (Mormon) Church.

Earlier this week LDS Inc supported the Salt Lake City Council in passing fair workplace and housing ordinances, making it illegal in Salt Lake City to deny a person housing or a job based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Ironically, two of the loudest and brash local anti-humanity groups who normally use the Mormon Church as their claim to morality broke sides with the Church that they claim to believe is always in the right. The “America Forever” Rodriguez family spoke out immediately at the public hearing before the City Council but although Sutherland’s Jeffrey Reynolds was in the crowd, Sutherland did not immediately made a statement.

November 10th however, featured a small statement hidden away on one of their sub pages saying that the LDS Church’s view on the matter was “parochial” and essentially incorrect as allowing someone who is LGBT to keep their home can only lead to same-sex marriage. They went on to say that the Church’s statement were just a PR stunt and that the LDS leadership is just trying to “assuage the minds and soften the hearts of advocates of “gay rights” in Utah.”

Now the critical bit about this new statement from the “Meronites” is the essential bond that has always existed between Sutherland and the Mormon Church. The vast majority of Sutherland’s “constituents” are faithful LDS members, which means that Sutherland is now in essence trying to “lead the flock away” from the teachings of the prophet. Wait… did Mero just join the dark side? How will he answer that fun fun temple recommend question that questions if he is associated with any organization that goes against what the Church has said?

Well either way, I don’t know where Sutherland can go from here as they may quickly find out what happens to organizations that aren’t on the same side as the Mormons in Utah. I wonder if their followers will catch on, or if Sutherland will sweep this under the rug and pretend like the Church never spoke at all?

Related article(s):

Daily Kos

Salt Lake Crawler

SLC Passes Pro-LGBT Measures. Will It Last?

Last night, Utah took a big side-step and did a very un-Utah thing.. it passed 2 ordinances against LGBT discrimination. Uh oh… does Gayle know about this?

In a unanimous vote, Salt Lake City Council passed fair workplace and housing ordinances following an hour and a half of testimonies from concerned citizens on both sides of the issue.  America Forever showed up (aka the crazy “you’re a waste of a vagina” Rodriguez family) to spout the usual confusing and un-thought out comments about how these ordinances will allow LGBT people to have sex at work apparently. They were out-numbered though by the enormous amount of people (myself included) who testified on behalf of these basic civil rights.

But the main speaker of the evening of course was Michael Otterson who represented the LDS (Mormon) church. The church stood up and supported these issues because they do not “do violence” against traditional marriage.

You know, although it’s not my wish to get negative about this wonderful event, I have to call BULL on those who are putting the church up on a pedestal for their statements. Let’s not fool ourselves thinking the church took a big leap last night. The church has been in support of these rights for years (at least that’s what they’ve claimed on their website). The only accomplishment the church made last night was to declare their own previously-announced beliefs verbally in front of a city council.

This past year’s legislative session marked the defeat of the “Common Ground” bills proposed by Equality Utah, included in these bills were…. everyone remember? Fair Workplace and Housing. Equality Utah called for the church’s support of the exact same protections on a state level last year, but the church remained silent at that point. So why now?

The supposition arising is that the church is bowing to enormous political pressure brought on from the backlash of Prop 8 in CA and the current look into their involvement in Maine. But I’m going to disagree completely actually.

Looking at history, I cannot believe that the church actually supports these rights. The church has never been shy about speaking it’s mind, and if they truly felt as strongly about the importance of upholding human dignity as Mr. Otterson suggested last night, they would have supported the state-wide issuance of these rights earlier this year.

But why then speak up at all? Perhaps we can find the meaning in the previously-made statements from certain members of our illustrious senate (Buttars of course), who said months ago that if the Salt Lake City Council passed these ordinances he would have them, and any other similar city ordinances in the state banned and illegitimized. The LDS leadership truly seems to be only attempting to pacify the LGBT community and the country as a whole with a “See We’re OK!” attitude, while perhaps hoping to see these rights stripped in the near future. Neat little box isn’t it? If the rights are taken away in the future the Church itself cannot directly be blamed because even though they only spoke on the-very small- city level, they still spoke.

If Senator Buttars or his colleagues manage to get their issues before the senate or legislature to get these ordinances struck down, will the Church support these rights again? Although I want to be hopeful, I’m going to doubt it.  Honestly the way I see this playing is these ordinances will come under attack in the next session and Equality Utah and the rest of the LGBT community will rally in support. But the LDS church will again remain silent, refusing to support us. Opponents of civil rights and human dignity will use that silence to their advantage by fading any LDS support into the background and pushing through hate-legislation…. .again.

Am I right? Hope not.

Big News Coming from the Mormons!

Big news coming from LDS Hierarchy regarding the LGBT community!

From the production team of “8, The Mormon Proposition:”

———————————————————————

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: STEVEN GREENSTREET (801) 580-3103

PRESS@MORMONPROPOSITION.COM

MORMON CHURCH LEADERS BEND UNDER SCRUTINY BROUGHT ON BY 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION. IS THIS ANOTHER MORMON P.R. STUNT?

On November 10, 2009 several highly placed people featured in the upcoming documentary film 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION were contacted by well-placed people inside the Mormon Church in anticipation of an “historic statement against discrimination” to be made by the Mormon Church.

They were told, “Watch what we are about to do. You will be pleased.”

At this hour gays and lesbians all over the world hope that the Mormon Church’s announcement will not be yet another Mormon public relations smoke screen and result in action that will result in full marriage equality for the LGBT community world-wide.

Since the release of the trailer for 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, intense scrutiny has been focused on Mormon involvement in the passage of Proposition 8 and allegations that the Mormon Church set up the infamous NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE which was the key player in Maine’s recent ban on gay marriage.

Sources close to those who called our cast and production team alerting us to the upcoming Mormon statement on discrimination say that Mormon Mitt Romney has recently put pressure on his own church to extend an olive branch to the gay community to try and deflate the anticipated negative press that will come from the release of 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION that would likely damage his hope for a successful 2012 presidential bid.

Ironically (and we suspect in step with the Mormon’s anticipated statement on discrimination) Mormon-owned KSL TV released an article on their web site saying “Romney appears to be front-runner in 2012 election.”

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8613293

While the 8:TMP team hopes Mormons end their game of discrimination against the LGBT community and wishes to work with people of all faith traditions to end discrimination, we would like to assert the following.

FACT: Under similar international scrutiny, Mormon leaders have in the past made similar statements regarding being against discrimination directed towards minorities & the LGBT COMMUNITY.

FACT: Gay leaders in SLC begged Mormon leaders to back up their statements on ending discrimination against the LGBT commmunity, through Mormon support for their COMMON GROUND initiative.

FACT: Despite lip service, Mormons did not get behind the COMMON GROUND INITIATIVE and in fact worked to see the initiative’s defeat.

FACT: Despite lip service to people of color, the holiest book of Mormon scripture THE BOOK OF MORMON still refers to people of color as being “CURSED WITH A DARK SKIN, FILTHY AND LOATHSOME.”

FACT: Despite lip service to people of color, printings of MORMON DOCTRINE by beloved Mormon Apostle Bruce R. Mcconkie, assert African Americans are “marked” for not being fully behind the plan of Jesus Christ in a pre-earth life war in Heaven.

FACT: A Mormon spokesperson told 8TMP’s director “this is all about public relations and making the church look good.”

In conclusion, as Mormon heavy-hitters prepare for the so-called “historic announcement” our team would encourage Mormons to put their money and their membership by doing the following:

1. Severing all Mormon ties to the NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE, which works to rob the LGBT COMMUNITY of their civil rights.

2. Directing an amount of money equal to Mormon money spent in California’s Prop. 8 campaign to LGBT marriage equality.

3. Removing from all Mormon canonized scripture any reference to people of color as being “cursed or marked with a dark skin” or being “filthy and loathsome.”

4. Ask Mormon Apostle Dallin H. Oaks to retract his recent teachings on LGBT “alleged civil rights” and affirm that LGBT rights are not “alleged” but deserved and long overdue.

Our production team and cast await the day when Mormons will work with the LGBT community not only with their words, but their money and their members to achieve FULL MARRIAGE EQUALITY. This is the only way to truly advocate for the end of discrimination against ALL PEOPLE. Anything else is lip-service.

Silence

This week , this anniversary.. we mark a year from our rape in California. We now add a new atrocity, the rape of our civil rights in Maine. And what do I hear? Silence. Silence from the once-again victims.

Where are you? We update our facebook and twitter pages with “I’m disappointed in the voters of Main.” Where is your anger? A year ago I began to believe that change was actually possible. Marches nationwide were thrown together overnight, voices raised from all corners of the country in one resounding cry, ENOUGH. And yet tonight we are silent. Have you given up, bowing to the demands of  fools?

Well I say to you that I am here, my anger stoked like the coals of great fire ready to burn all in its path. I cannot be silenced nor stopped and I will break the walls of all who oppose us.

But let’s be honest, our worst enemy is strong and more debilitating than even we can realize. Our enemy attacks us at almost every turn, and constantly threatens to sink us moment to moment. More potent than speeches, harder to topple than any other force. Who is this enemy, can we give it a name? It is not the politicians, nor the laughably pitiful right-wing groups like the AFA, Eagle Forum or Evangelicals who cling to their dusty ideals like old men hoping for their twenties again. Our enemy is ourselves. Our lack of passion, our perpetual acceptance of our own destruction.

We’ve gone through things no other group on this planet ever has, rejection and anger from within our own families, churches and communities. We continue to be beaten and subjected to all manner of violations. We watch as we are ridiculed in all corners of media, films and tv. We are the butt of every joke and slang imaginable. And yet for those of us who are lucky enough to survive, instead of standing on every street corner and demanding justice, we choose rather to adopt an attitude of superiority and neglect. At the precise moment when we are our most powerful we walk away rather than choose to ensure that our future brothers and sisters do not experience the same horrors.

Yes, we have the most blame on our shoulders. And because of this the blood of our children is on our own hands. We spout off briefly against the parent who beats their child, or pushes them to take their own life, but that night we attend parties and drink away all bad memories.

I say ENOUGH. I say I am done laying down and letting those with closed and weak minds pass over me. I am done with the silence. Let this be my battle cry, that I will shout, scream and push until I never again hear that the ignorant have once again taken away what is rightfully mine. Every single person in my life will know who I am, no matter what the cost, for the cost of living in the shadows is far more dreadful and destroys any fake semblance of dignity I pretend to have, and the very lives of others.

I will stand and shout until every one of you, my brothers and sisters, stands and shouts with me. For at that time and in that great moment, I can promise you that we will achieve victory. That glorious moment will be the day when our enemies lie down at our feet and beg forgiveness as our voices blow the dust from their eyes.

I stand. Stand with me.

Eric Ethington