Prosecutors won’t pursue a case against two men accused of trespassing on LDS Church property earlier this month.
An LDS Church security guard detained a gay couple on Salt Lake City’s Main Street Plaza on July 9 after observing the pair “kissing and hugging,” according to a police report.
Derek Jones and Matt Aune were cited for trespassing after refusing to leave. The incident led to two kiss-in protests against the church in Salt Lake City and one in San Diego.
Aune has said the couple’s display of affection was modest, but officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the plaza, released a statement that the two men were “much more involved” than a “simple kiss on the cheek.” It said the couple “engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol.”
In a statement released Wednesday, Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill said the trespassing case against Jones and Aune has been dropped.
Gill said despite that Main Street Plaza is owned by the church, there “continues to be a mistaken belief by many visitors that there is a public right of way.”
See Prosecutors drop case against gay couple accused of trespassing on … Salt Lake Tribune -
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Tags:
Ads,
Affection,
Alcohol,
Ali,
Amp,
Ased,
Aune,
Ba,
Belief,
Bia,
Bisexual,
Blog,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Blogs,
Border,
Cheek,
Chur,
Church Of Jesus,
Church Of Jesus Christ,
Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints,
City Prosecutor,
Coord,
Cou,
Coupl,
Derek Jones,
Dn,
Drop Case,
Ego,
Faith,
Fo,
Fr,
Gag,
gay,
Gay Couple,
gay men,
Gay New,
Gay News,
Gin,
google,
Images,
Ins,
Jesus,
Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day,
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints,
Kiss,
Kissing,
Latter Day Saints,
Ld,
Lds,
Lds Church,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
Led,
Lesb,
Lesbi,
lesbian,
Lesbian News,
Lt,
Map,
Mis,
Mistake,
Mistaken Belief,
Mp,
Mu,
N News,
Nbsp,
Offi,
Officia,
Original Source,
Pac,
Passion,
Passionate Kiss,
Pi,
Pl,
Police Report,
Pos,
Pot,
Prosecutor,
Prosecutors,
Protest,
Protests,
Rea,
Rig,
Rose,
Salt Lake City,
Salt Lake Tribune,
San Diego,
Sec,
Security Guard,
sex,
Shap,
Sig,
Simple Kiss,
Sin,
Sit,
Sourc,
Span,
Sphere,
Stake,
Tag,
Target,
Tatement,
Ted,
Tent,
Transgender,
Two Men,
Url,
Verd,
Vet,
Wh,
Wit
It’s the wound that won’t heal. The rift that won’t close. And earlier this month, two gay lovers’ purportedly innocuous late-night kiss — though LDS Church officials insist it was far more amorous than that — ripped it wide open.
Utah’s simmering religious divide boiled over — once again — at the geographical and philosophical intersection of church and state: the Main Street Plaza in downtown Salt Lake City.
“It is a scab that will continue to be peeled away — and may never heal,” says Dani Eyer, the former ACLU director who fought to preserve First Amendment rights on the plaza.
Matt Aune and Derek Jones say they held hands, kissed and then squabbled with security guards on the LDS Church-owned square. Salt Lake City police issued a ticket for trespassing. In protest, supporters of the couple staged a “kiss-in” last Sunday outside the plaza and plan another such demonstration today.
The LDS Church — a faith to which 60 percent of Utahns belong — defended its right to regulate “inappropriate behavior” on the plaza.
“What we’re seeing now is a manifestation of what should have been obvious from the very beginning,” says former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. “This block of Main Street never should have been conveyed to the LDS Church. It was a recipe for ongoing resentments between the LDS Church and those who are not members.”
The church bought the strip of Main — from North Temple to South Temple — in 1999 after then-Mayor Deedee Corradini and the City Council, with the only two non-LDS members dissenting, signed off on the $8.1 million deal. But the controversy burned for five more years as federal courts were asked to settle the prickly issue of whether the church could govern expression on the plaza and whether the city could retain a public right of way (as outlined in the original deal).
“It was meant to be for everybody,” Eyer says. “Where people come and go their constitutional rights go with them.”
After a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2002, First Amendment activities returned to the plaza. But demonstrations by anti-Mormon protesters — including cries of “whore” and “harlot” hurled at newlywed brides — “sustained divisions” that “reached to the point of hatred” between Mormons and non-Mormons, Anderson says.
In the end, he agreed to trade the public easement for cash and LDS land to build a west-side community center.
See Gay incident reopens Salt Lake City’s Main Street plaza wounds Salt Lake Tribune -
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Tags:
1 Million,
Aclu,
Act,
Acti,
Ads,
Ali,
Amendment Right,
Amp,
Aune,
Ba,
Bia,
Bisexual,
Bloc,
Blog,
Blogger,
Blogs,
Bod,
Boi,
Border,
Brides,
Cal,
Chur,
Church Officials,
Circuit Court Of Appeals,
City Mayor,
City Police,
Constitution,
Constitutional Right,
Constitutional Rights,
Controversy,
Coord,
Cou,
Coupl,
Court Of Appeal,
Court Of Appeals,
Cr,
Dea,
Defe,
Demo,
Demon,
Demons,
Demonstration,
Demonstrations,
Derek Jones,
Direc,
Dissent,
Downtown Salt Lake,
Downtown Salt Lake City,
Elon,
Era,
Eve,
Express,
Expression,
Faith,
Federal Courts,
Fir,
First Amendment,
First Amendment Rights,
Fo,
Fr,
gay,
Gay Love,
Gay Lover,
Gay Lovers,
gay men,
Gay New,
Gay News,
Gin,
google,
Gove,
Hatred,
Images,
Inappropriate Behavior,
Ins,
Intersection,
Irs,
Kiss,
Last Sunday,
Ld,
Lds,
Lds Church,
Lds Members,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
Led,
lesbian,
Lesbian News,
Loc,
Lot,
love,
Lt,
Manifestation,
Map,
Mayor Deedee Corradini,
Members,
Mormon,
Mormons,
Mp,
Mu,
N News,
Nbsp,
Nev,
Night Kiss,
Nme,
North Temple,
Offi,
Officia,
Original Source,
Pac,
Peop,
People,
Pi,
Pl,
Pos,
Pot,
Prick,
Protest,
Protester,
Protesters,
Rap,
Rea,
Reed,
Resentments,
Rig,
Rocky,
Rov,
Rr,
Salt Lake City,
Salt Lake City Mayor,
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson,
Salt Lake City Police,
Salt Lake Tribune,
Scab,
Sec,
Sect,
Security Guard,
Security Guards,
sex,
Shap,
Sig,
Sin,
Sit,
Sourc,
South Temple,
Span,
Sphere,
Squabble,
Tag,
Target,
Ted,
Tent,
Ties,
Transgender,
Uni,
Url,
Utahns,
Verd,
Vet,
Wes,
Wh,
Whore,
Wit,
Wou,
Wounds
o Salt Lake City is stepping out, urging a new anti-discrimination law that actually includes sexual orientation and gender identity in the traditional list of those affected by housing and employment discrimination.
Take that, all you legislators who have squashed any such thinking on the state level, arguing disingenuously that “choosing to be gay” is not grounds for civil rights protection. Mayor Ralph Becker, a Democratic representative for 11 years, knows all about that ruse.
And one of the most fascinating things is how the city’s Human Rights Commission got there: Its members sat down and talked to people in five “dialogues on discrimination” late last year. No lectures, no surveys. Just conversations about classism/poverty, people with disabilities, racism, faith and sexual orientation.
Kilo Zamora, whose nonprofit Inclusion Center trained the commissioners, says the opener was, “How’s the city doing, and do you think there’s discrimination here?”
As people talked, it became evident that race, gender, class, income and religious biases “we thought we had buried in the ’60s were much alive in our communities,” he says.
People were shocked. “Are you sure?” they would ask. “I never knew racism was still alive!”
See McEntee: Discrimination is still with us Salt Lake Tribune
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Tags:
11 Years,
Ace,
Act,
Ads,
Ali,
Ally,
Amp,
Ba,
Beck,
Bia,
Bias,
Biases,
Bil,
Bisexual,
Blog,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Blogs,
Border,
Cho,
Civ,
Civi,
Civil Rights,
Conversations,
Coord,
Cr,
Cw,
Demo,
Democrat,
Democratic Rep,
Democratic Representative,
Dialogue,
Discrimination,
Discrimination Law,
Employment,
Employment Discrimination,
Epping,
Eve,
Faith,
Five Dialogues,
Fo,
Fr,
gay,
gay men,
Gay New,
Gay News,
Gender Class,
Gender Identity,
Gin,
google,
Grou,
Human Rights,
Human Rights Commission,
Images,
Inclusion,
Ld,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
Legislator,
Legislators,
lesbian,
Lesbian News,
Loy,
Lt,
Map,
Members,
Mis,
Mp,
Mu,
N News,
Nbsp,
Nev,
Nonprofit,
Npr,
Ogue,
Orientation,
Original Source,
Pac,
Peop,
People,
People With Disabilities,
Pi,
Pl,
Pos,
Pot,
Poverty,
Race Gender,
Racism,
Ralph Becker,
Rea,
Rh,
Rig,
Roun,
Ruse,
Salt Lake City,
Salt Lake Tribune,
sex,
Sexual Orientation,
Shap,
Shock,
Sig,
Sin,
Sourc,
Span,
Survey,
Tag,
Target,
Ted,
Tent,
Ties,
Tradition,
Transgender,
Uni,
Url,
Verd,
Vet,
Wh,
Wit,
Wou,
Zamora
Reading the headlines, the news isn’t good for gay Utahns.
Former Equality Utah Director Mike Thompson has moved to San Francisco, taking his organizing skills from Holladay to the Haight. He says it’s personal, not professional.
Then, Pride Week opened with what looks like a hate crime.
Christopher Vonnegut Allen was arrested after allegedly beating his gay neighbors — a man and a woman — bloody in Ogden. One victim needed surgery. You may not have heard of it. Prosecutors charged Allen with only one count of burglary.
And this week, two nice Mormon ladies from Santa Cruz decided to give their unwilling church one more chance to reconcile with its gay members and the LGBT community outside the flock.
While the rest of the country moves forward — New Hampshire, New York, Iowa, for goodness sake — this place seems perpetually stuck.
It probably helps that Thompson missed the headlines. Still, he’s optimistic.
“You can’t have a defeatist attitude,” he says. “You’ve got to press against it in order to even hope for a change.”
He points to Salt Lake City’s nondiscrimination ordinance and domestic partners registry, an anti-bullying law, polls that show Utahns supported the Common Ground Initiative (even if lawmakers didn’t).
“Maybe they’re not significant in some people’s minds, but there are measurables there,” he says. “People are having conversations. Change is going to come sooner or later.”
See
Tags:
Ace,
Ads,
Aig,
Akers,
Ali,
Ally,
Amp,
Anc,
Attitude,
Ba,
Bea,
Blog,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Blogs,
Border,
Bully,
Bullying,
Colo,
Common Ground,
Conversations,
Coord,
Cou,
Country Moves,
Defeatist Attitude,
Direc,
Director Mike,
Discrimination,
Dn,
Dom,
Domes,
Domestic Partner,
Domestic Partners,
Domestic Partners Registry,
Equality,
Equality Utah,
Eve,
Flo,
Flock,
Fo,
Fr,
gay,
Gay Member,
Gay Members,
Gay Neighbor,
Gay Utah,
Gin,
Goodness Sake,
google,
Grou,
Ground Initiative,
Haight,
Hate Crime,
Hb,
Hbo,
Headlines,
Holladay,
Images,
Initiative,
Ins,
Lawmaker,
Lawmakers,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
Lgbt,
Lgbt Community,
Loc,
Loo,
Lt,
Man And A Woman,
Map,
Members,
Mike Thompson,
Mis,
Mormon,
Mp,
Mps,
Mu,
Nan,
Nbsp,
Neighbor,
Neighbors,
New Hampshire,
New York Iowa,
Nondiscrimination,
Original Source,
Pac,
Partner,
People,
Pi,
Pl,
Poll,
Polls,
Pos,
Pot,
pride,
Prosecutor,
Prosecutors,
Rea,
Rh,
Rig,
Rose,
Roun,
Rr,
Salt Lake City,
Salt Lake Tribune,
San Francisco,
Sec,
Shap,
Sig,
Sourc,
Span,
Target,
Ted,
Tent,
Tia,
Tis,
Uni,
Urge,
Url,
Utahns,
Vet,
Vonnegut,
Wh,
Wit,
Woman,
Zi
Updated: 05/29/2009 09:09:52 PM MDT
There is no denying that the decision of the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8 is a setback for gay families and anyone who supports marriage equality. But the reversal is temporary.
One day in the not-too-distant future — years maybe, but not decades — Prop. 8 will be seen as the swan song of the old order. California’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage garnered 52 percent of the vote in November, but it was the last gasp of an atavistic and deeply negative conception of homosexuality whose grip on the American psyche will soon be broken for good (and good riddance).
Gay marriage is coming to America.
The speed at which gay marriage went from a wedge issue that Republicans used during the 2004 election to roust religiously conservative voters to the polls, to its wide acceptance today, is nothing short of a political tsunami. Five states have now legalized same-sex marriage either by statute or court order: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine. The last three did so in the few months since California’s Prop. 8 case was argued. With the momentum building throughout the Northeast, measures legalizing gay marriage are considered viable in New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
The polls are reflecting this rapid shift in the cultural landscape.
See Blumner: Gay marriage will come Salt Lake Tribune
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Tags:
Ads,
Ali,
American Psyche,
Amp,
Anc,
Ba,
Bisexual,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Bod,
Border,
Cal,
Cali,
Californ,
California Supreme Court,
Coming To America,
Conn,
Connecticut,
Conser,
Conservative,
Conservative Voters,
Consi,
Constitution,
Constitutional Amendment,
Coord,
Cou,
Decade,
Decades,
Distant Future,
elect,
Equality,
Eric,
Erica,
Eve,
Fo,
Fr,
Future Years,
gay,
Gay Families,
gay marriage,
gay men,
Gay New,
Gay News,
Good Riddance,
google,
Grou,
Homo,
Homosexual,
Homosexuality,
Hs,
Images,
Last Gasp,
Ld,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
Led,
Legalizing Gay Marriage,
lesbian,
Lesbian News,
Lt,
Maine,
Map,
Marr,
Marria,
marriage,
Marriage Equality,
Massachusetts,
Measures,
Mom,
Momentum,
Mp,
Mps,
Nbsp,
New Hampshire,
Original Source,
Pac,
Pi,
Pl,
Poll,
Polls,
Pos,
Rapid Shift,
Rea,
Republican,
Republicans,
Rig,
Robyn,
Rr,
Salt Lake Tribune,
same sex marriage,
Setback,
sex,
Sex Marriage,
Sexuality,
Shap,
Sig,
Sin,
Sit,
Span,
Spe,
Ssa,
Suk,
Supreme Court,
Swan Song,
Tag,
Target,
Ted,
Transgender,
Url,
Vermont,
Vet,
Vote,
Wedge Issue,
Wh,
Wit,
Wou
As more states take up the debate on same-sex marriage, some advocates of legalization are taking a very specific lesson from California, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dominated both fundraising and door-knocking to pass a ballot initiative that barred such unions.
With the battle moving east, some advocates are shouting that fact in the streets, calculating that on an issue that eventually comes down to comfort levels, more people harbor apprehensions about Mormons than about homosexuality.
“The Mormons are coming! The Mormons are coming!” warned ads placed on newspaper Web sites in three Eastern states last month. The ad was rejected by sites in three other states, including Maine, where the Kennebec Journal informed Californians Against Hate that the copy “borders on insulting and denigrating a whole set of people based on their religion.”
“I’m not intending it to harm the religion. I think they do wonderful things. Nicest people,” said Fred Karger, a former Republican campaign consultant who established Californians Against Hate. “My single goal is to get them out of the same-sex marriage business and back to helping hurricane victims.”
See Backers of gay marriage trumpet the Mormon church’s work against it Salt Lake Tribune
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Tags:
Ace,
Act,
Ads,
Advocate,
Advocates,
Aig,
Ali,
Ally,
Amp,
Apprehensions,
Ased,
Ba,
Backer,
Backers,
Ballot Initiative,
Bisexual,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Border,
Cal,
Cali,
Californ,
Californians,
Campaign Consultant,
Church Of Jesus,
Church Of Jesus Christ,
Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints,
Consu,
Coord,
Cop,
Debate,
Debate On Same Sex Marriage,
Easter,
Eastern States,
Endi,
Eve,
Fo,
Fr,
Fred Karger,
Fun,
gay,
gay marriage,
gay men,
Gay New,
Gay News,
google,
Hell,
Helping Hurricane Victims,
Homo,
Homosexual,
Homosexuality,
Images,
Initiative,
Ins,
Insult,
Jesus,
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day,
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints,
Kennebec Journal,
Latter Day Saints,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
lesbian,
Lesbian News,
Lot,
Lt,
Maine,
Map,
Marr,
Marria,
marriage,
Mormon,
Mormon Church,
Mormons,
Moving,
Mp,
Mpa,
Nbsp,
Original Source,
Pac,
People,
Pi,
Pl,
Pos,
Rea,
Religion,
Republican,
Republican Campaign,
Rig,
Rr,
Rump,
Salt Lake Tribune,
same sex marriage,
sex,
Sex Marriage,
Sexuality,
Shap,
Sig,
Sin,
Sit,
Span,
Spe,
Stab,
Stern,
Tag,
Target,
Ted,
Tia,
Transgender,
Uni,
Unions,
Url,
Vet,
Wh,
Wit,
Wor
Mike Thompson, who over the past four years has helped build Equality Utah into a respected advocacy group for LGBT rights, has resigned his post as executive director. The former oil company executive is relocating to San Francisco to work in the nonprofit field, according to this article. The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Tags:
Ads,
Advocacy Group,
Ali,
Amp,
Anc,
Ba,
Bisexual,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Border,
Cib,
Colo,
Coord,
Direc,
Dp,
Equality,
Equality Utah,
Exec,
Executive Director,
Fo,
Fr,
gay,
gay men,
Gay New,
Gay News,
google,
Grou,
Images,
Ld,
Lea,
Lead,
Leads,
lesbian,
Lesbian News,
Lgbt,
Lgbt Rights,
Loc,
Lt,
Map,
Mike Thompson,
Mp,
Mpa,
Mps,
Nbsp,
Nonprofit,
Norm,
Npr,
Oil Company Executive,
Original Source,
Pac,
Pos,
Rea,
Relocating To San Francisco,
Respect,
Rig,
Salt Lake Tribune,
San Francisco,
sex,
Shap,
Sig,
Span,
Spe,
Tag,
Target,
Ted,
Transgender,
Url,
Vet,
Wh,
Wor
Salt Lake City » Valerie Larabee is a lesbian, out and living in Salt Lake City, where the shadow of the Mormon church can feel long and cold for people who are gay.
“My friends who don’t live here think I’m nuts,” said Larabee, a former Air Force officer and financial planner, who moved to Utah in 1997 and now runs the Gay Pride Center on Salt Lake City’s west side.
While much of the country moves in fits and starts toward greater acceptance of gay people and endorsement of equal rights, the politically active Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the often ultra-conservative Mormon-dominated Utah Legislature have found themselves squarely on the opposite side of that trend.
In the U.S., gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Utah has made it illegal twice: Once in statute and again when voters banned the practice in the state constitution.
Undaunted, activists say the current political and social climate in many ways make this “the best time” to be gay in Utah. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community — especially along the population-dense Wasatch Front — is growing and energized.
“I think we are the frontline of the culture war,” said Troy Williams, a former Mormon and the gay host of “Radioactive,” a talk show on public radio. “This is where the fight is and this is where the really exciting stuff is happening.”
Salt Lake Tribune
Tags:
Act,
Activist,
Activists,
Ali,
Ally,
Amp,
Anc,
Arab,
Ba,
Bisexual,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Border,
Cal,
Church Of Jesus,
Church Of Jesus Christ,
Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints,
Climate,
Conn,
Connecticut,
Conser,
Conservative,
Constitution,
Coord,
Cou,
Country Moves,
Current,
Equal Rights,
Finan,
Fo,
Fr,
Friends,
gay,
Gay Host,
gay marriage,
Gay People,
Gay Pride,
Gay Rights Movement,
google,
Images,
Jesus,
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day,
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints,
Latter Day Saints,
Lead,
Leads,
lesbian,
Lt,
Map,
Marr,
marriage,
Massachusetts,
Mormon,
Mormon Church,
Mp,
Mu,
Nan,
Nbsp,
Original Source,
Pac,
People,
Pl,
Pop,
Population,
Pos,
pride,
Pride Center,
Public Radio,
Rea,
Rent,
Rr,
Salt Lake City,
Salt Lake Tribune,
sex,
Shap,
Sig,
Sit,
Social Climate,
Span,
Spe,
Ssa,
State Constitution,
Target,
Ted,
Transgender,
Transgender Community,
Troy,
Troy Williams,
Uni,
Valerie,
Vermont,
Vet,
Vote,
Wasatch Front,
Wh
You may remember how proponents of Prop 8 claimed they were not against Civil Unions for queers - they only wanted to protect marriage from being destroyed, etc.
Well, over in Utah (home of The Mormon Church) we can now see the truth: far right conservatives and the Mormon Church are against any form of equality for LGBT people. Read on:
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Friday that Utah’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage also prohibits civil unions, and that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is wrong when he says it’s open to interpretation from the courts.
“When it comes to civil unions, it’s absolutely clear. There is no doubt,” Shurtleff said in an interview. “That’s in the Constitution.”
Utah voters approved Amendment 3 to Utah’s Constitution in 2004, stating that marriage can only consist of a union between a man and a woman and that “No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.”
On Thursday, Huntsman said that it is not clear that the Constitution bans civil unions.
“I think that ultimately could be a court case and that might be adjudicated in court if it comes to that level,” Huntsman said during his monthly KUED news conference. “But [the amendment] wasn’t clear. That spoke to marriage and anything subordinate to marriage, I think, would probably be adjudicated in a court of law.”
Shurtleff said that, based on the language of the amendment and the legislative intent and history, “they clearly were prohibiting civil unions.”
On Friday, Shurtleff sent a Twitter message to 380 correspondents: “It is NOT a matter for the courts, the PEOPLE have spoken!”
Shurtleff says guv is wrong on civil unions
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
Tags:
Ali,
Ally,
Amendment 3,
Amendment Banning Gay Marriage,
Amp,
Ased,
Attorney General,
Ba,
Banning Gay Marriage,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Civ,
Civi,
Civil Union,
Civil Unions,
Colo,
Conser,
Conservative,
Conservatives,
Constitution,
Constitutional Amendment,
Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage,
Coord,
Cou,
Court Case,
Domes,
Equality,
Era,
Eve,
Fo,
Fr,
gay,
gay marriage,
google,
Gov Jon Huntsman,
Huntsman,
Images,
Ins,
Jon Huntsman Jr,
Lead,
Leads,
Lear,
Legislative Intent,
Lgbt,
Lt,
Man And A Woman,
Map,
Mark Shurtleff,
Marr,
marriage,
Mormon,
Mormon Church,
Mp,
Nbsp,
News Conference,
No Doubt,
Nyt,
Open To Interpretation,
Opposition,
Original Source,
Pac,
People,
Pl,
Pos,
Proponents,
Queer,
Queers,
Respondents,
Rr,
Salt Lake Tribune,
Shap,
Sit,
Span,
Target,
Ted,
Tent,
Tia,
Troy,
Truth,
Twitter,
Uni,
Unions,
United State,
united states,
Utah Voters,
Vet,
Vote,
Wh,
Woman,
Wou
Sen. Chris Buttars called gay activists “the meanest buggers” and alleged they have no morals. America Forever, in full-page newspaper ads, compared gay men and lesbians to “druggies” and “hookers.”
Just words. No sticks. No stones. But such talk does hurt. It can leave emotional scars and, some observers warn, inspire others to inflict physical ones.
Utah hit a national “hate watch” list twice in recent weeks for headline-grabbing onslaughts of anti-gay rhetoric.
“It’s not the kind of America we want,” said Heidi Beirich, spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. “You can have a difference of opinion over somebody’s lifestyle but to put them in a position of threat — that’s going too far.”
The national civil rights organization monitors hate groups, such as white supremacists, and publishes “Hatewatch,” a newsletter and blog that spotlighted the comments from Buttars, R-West Jordan, and America Forever.
“The kinds of things they’re saying,” Beirich said, “can give credence to others who would like to take their actions further than speech, into the realm of violence.”
The FBI reports that in 2007, the most recent year of available data, Utah had nine hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias.
Not that those who oppose gay rights mean to incite violence.
See Some fear anti-gay words will lead to anti-gay sticks and stones
Salt Lake Tribune -
Tags:
1861,
Act,
Activist,
Activists,
Ali,
Amp,
Ba,
Bias,
Blog Blogspot,
Blogger,
Buggers,
Cal,
Cars,
Civ,
Civi,
Civil Rights,
Civil Rights Organization,
Coord,
Credence,
Difference Of Opinion,
Eid,
Emotional Scars,
Eric,
Eve,
Fbi,
Fbi Reports,
Fear,
Fo,
Fr,
gay,
Gay Activist,
Gay Activists,
gay men,
gay rights,
google,
Grou,
Groups,
Hate Crime,
Hate Crimes,
Hate Group,
Hate Groups,
Heidi Beirich,
Hes,
Images,
Ins,
Lead,
Leads,
Led,
lesbian,
Lesbians,
Lt,
Map,
Morals,
Mp,
Mpa,
Nbsp,
Observers,
Oral,
Organization,
Orientation,
Original Source,
Pac,
Pos,
Poverty,
Poverty Law Center,
Rema,
Rh,
Rhetoric,
Rights Organization,
Salt Lake Tribune,
Sec,
Servers,
sex,
Sexual Orientation,
Shap,
Southern Poverty Law,
Southern Poverty Law Center,
Spokeswoman,
Spotlight,
Sticks And Stones,
Target,
Ted,
Tg,
Ups,
Violence,
West Jordan,
White Supremacist,
White Supremacists,
Woman,
Wou
Next Page →
