Utah gay rights
Rose Saxe,
she/her,
Deputy Director, LGBT & HIV Project,
ACLU
The passage of a bill in Utah last week that will protect queer and transgender people from discrimination in housing and employment is a timely and important achievement: It ensures that the LGBT society cannot be singled out for unequal treatment. Over 50,000 gay and trans Utahns will no longer need to fear being fired or refused an apartment just because of who they are.
But it would be a mistake to assume that the remedies offered in SB 296 can be championed as a model for nationwide replication. Utah’s law still leaves gay and transgender people without much needed protections from discrimination in places of widespread accommodation like stores, restaurants, and theaters. And longstanding Utah law contains an exemption that means the nondiscrimination commandment doesn’t apply to religious organizations.
Last summer, coming on the heels of the Supreme Court’s deeply troubling choice in Hobby Lobby, the ACLU and other groups made the decision to withdraw support for the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act over the inclusion of a sweeping provision to allow religious organizations to d
The Mormon state is seen as deeply homophobic. Yet, from polygamy to celebration, Mormons themselves are a distinctly gender non-conforming lot
‘Salt Lake is a very gay place,’ said the historian J Seth Anderson after he and his husband became the first gay couple to be married in Utah, in 2013. When most non-Utahns think of the state, probably the last thing that comes to brain is ‘gay’. Instead, they might deliberate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, aka Mormons), whose members constitute 42 per cent of the population. Or maybe they think of Republicans, who outnumber Democrats nearly four to one.
While counterintuitive, Anderson’s statement about Salt Lake City’s queerness is true in most senses of the word. First, Utah defies norms and boundaries. For many who examine queer theory, queerness isn’t just about who you value or your sexual identity. It’s also a lens for understanding how culture defines what’s considered normal or diverse, and how these definitions affect diverse behaviours and groups of people. In that sense, Utah can be seen as queer because it defies or ‘queers’ normative identity in the Combined States. Second, Salt Lake is simply home to a lot of gay people
Human Rights Campaign Condemns Utah Governor Spencer Cox for Signing Dangerous Forbid on Gender Affirming Concern for Transgender Youth into Law; First Anti-LGBTQ+ Rule of 2023 Now on the Books
by Aneesha Pappy •
SALT LAKE Municipality, UT - Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest queer woman , gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, rebukes Utah Governor Spencer Cox for signing SB 16, a rule that will effectively prohibit the provision of gender affirming care to trans patients under the age of 18.
Gov. Cox signed the bill on Saturday, January 28. Last year, Governor Cox vetoed anti-transgender legislation knowing his veto would be overridden, explaining,“Rarely has so much horror and anger been directed at so few. I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live.” By signing this anti-transgender piece of legislation into law, the Governor has now caved to anti-equality extremists. Utah SB 16 is the first anti-LGBTQ+ bill signed into law in 2023. Last year alone, 344 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across 23 states. More than 2
The Utah Legislature passed a historic bill on Wednesday this week repealing a state law prohibiting supportive discussions of “homosexuality” in public and charter school curricula and classrooms. This victory has been months in the making.
Equality Utah and three students filed a federal lawsuit last October challenging state laws that ban supportive speech about LGBTQ people in Utah public schools. Equality Utah and the students were represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP.
The legislation passed with bipartisan support by a 27-1 vote in the Senate and a 68- 1 vote in the House. The bill now goes to Governor Gary Herbert for signature.
“This is a historic day for LGBTQ students in Utah,” said Equality Utah executive director Troy Williams. “We commend Senator Adams and the Utah Legislature for acknowledging that LGBTQ students should be treated with the same respect and dignity as other students. The removal of this discriminatory language from the school curriculum laws will send a positive message that all students are valued in Utah.”
Commonly referred to as “No Promo Homo” or “Don’t Say Gay” bills, Alab