I’ve never been to Salt Lake City, but those I know who have say it’s actually a fairly open-minded town where gay people can feel somewhat comfortable — it’s in the smaller towns and outlying areas that the fundamentalism rears its head. (Can you say “Dallas”?) So it was perhaps not a surprise that the city council of SLC passed two local ordinances banning employers and landlords from discriminating based on an employee or tenant’s sexual orientation. They even passed unanimously.
What is a slightly bigger deal is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints came out in favor of the laws — sorta.
“The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage,” Michael Otterson, managing director of the church’s public affairs office, said in a prepared statement, according to the Deseret News.
Hardly a ringing endorsement. In fact, to me, it damns with faint praise: “THIS law is OK because it does NOT do violence… but same-sex marriage? Inheritance rights? Adoption? Well, those are NOT OK because they are VIOLENT ATTACKS on marriage” is the message of the church that colonized Utah because they wanted me to marry as many women as they could. So, I’m not sure where they get off as the gatekeepers of sanctified unions. (“Marriage is between a man and a woman… and another woman, and another, and well, ho many ya got?”)
Anyway, it was enough for Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate to endorse as a step in the right direction. Me, I’m still not planning to visit Utah anytime soon.
4 Comments
The Mormons are smart enough to realize that passing anti-discrimination “laws” does not add to LGBT equality it does the opposite. The laws actually make us a “protected class,” which is the opposite of equal.
Mormons have no problem seeing us permanently defined as a minority, just like Blacks and Women and the handicapped. It confirms their belief that “because we are less than them, we need those protections.” They also understand that laws don’t actually protect.
They get it – we don’t. Mormons are making us “less than” them by supporting a law that defines us as needing protection. I wish our LGBT community was as smart as they are.
Folks, it’s worth mentioning that while the Mormon Church has graciously (there’s sarcasm in that word) agreed to allow Salt Lake City to make discrimination against Gays (in housing and employment) illegal, the church retains for itself a specific exemption that allows it to continue (as it surely will) to discriminate for virtually any reason with regard to employment.
The news wire really should have mentioned that.
Duwayne Anderson
Author of “Farewell to Eden: Coming to terms with Mormonism and science”
Arnold,
I have traveled and lived all over the world. I choose Salt Lake as my home because it is truly an amazing place to live. There is a great mixture of mormon/non-mormon and 99% of the time everyone has a seamless and enjoyable life with each other.
By you not wanting to come here just allows for a little more of everything for the rest of us.
Chad
Author of “comming to terms why people who have never been to Salt Lake ignorantly think they know the dynamic of this city.”
Chad, I hope, as an “author,” you learn to correctly spell “coming.” And I know NOTHING of the dynamic of the city nor did I claim to.