Tag Archives: Utah

Is the (anti-gay) Tea Party gaining momentum?

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rand_paul
Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul has Tea Party support

The Tea Party candidate for Texas governor, Debra Medina, peaked several weeks before the primary and  came in third. But in other places, candidates supported by the Tea Party are doing well, and many of them hold anti-gay views.

This weekend at the Utah Republican convention, three-term incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett polled third and will not appear on the state’s primary ballot.

One of the reasons cited was Bennett’s 1993 vote for Roberta Achtenberg, a lesbian, to be an undersecretary at HUD under Bill Clinton.

In Florida, a candidate supported by the Tea Party, Marco Rubio, was polling ahead of Gov. Charlie Crist in a U.S. Senate race. So Crist left the Republican Party and is running as an independent. Now, donors are asking Crist for their money back.

Continue reading “Is the (anti-gay) Tea Party gaining momentum?” »

—  David Taffet

Gay legislators – we need to get us one

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This state house has more LGBT legislators than any other
This state house has more LGBT legislators than any other

Yesterday, I wrote about a Utah state representative who is lesbian and acting as surrogate mother for a gay couple. What I thought was interesting was that she was one of three openly gay legislators in that very red state. Yet Texas has none. How are other states doing?

According to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, 79 LGBT legislators serve in state houses across the country. Here are some of the stats I came up with:

28 states have at least one LGBT legislator.

The state with the most is no surprise: Massachusetts has six. Marriage equality. Sky not fallen. Even has an openly gay Republican running for lieutenant governor. Elaine Noble was the first open gay or lesbian elected to a state legislature in the United States. In 1975, she was elected to the Massachusetts State House.

States with five LGBT legislators are mostly no surprise: Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Washington state. Connecticut and Vermont have marriage equality. Washington has an equality law that gives domestic partners everything that marriage does, but with a different name. New York recognizes marriages performed elsewhere. Arizona is a purple state. John McCain is one of their senators. Republican John Kyl is the other. But Janet Napolitano was their governor and now serves in Obama’s cabinet. It’s only only state to have had three women governors in a row. (Jane Hull preceeded Napolitano and Jan Brewer is the current governor).

Three states have four LGBT legislators: California, Maryland and New Hampshire. New Hampshire has marriage equality. California has thousands of legally married couples and Prop. 8 currently is tied up in court. Maryland does not ban marriage equality and they tried but failed to pass it last session.

In addition to Utah, Rhode Island has three gay legislators. Despite a governor who killed marriage equality last year and vetoed a bill that would allow gays or lesbians to make funeral arrangements for their partners, the state is generally very blue. The legislature overrode the governor’s veto and the mayor of Providence is also gay.

Texas? Glen Maxey was one of the first openly gay state legislators nationally. But since he left office, we’ve had none.

—  David Taffet

Utah legislator carrying baby for gay couple

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Rep. Christine Johnson
Rep. Christine Johnson

Utah law does not allow adoption by gay parents nor does it allow second parent adoption.

So Rep. Christine Johnson is doing something about it. The Salt Lake City Democrat was inseminated and is carrying a baby for a gay couple. The baby is due in June. She is not charging the couple for her surrogacy although they are paying the medical bills.

Johnson is lesbian and has a 17-year old daughter.

Another Utah representative, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, is trying to amend state law to allow second-parent adoptions when a biological parent designates an unmarried partner as the second, adoptive parent.

Johnson has proposed legislation similar to Salt Lake City’s new ordinance that bans housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

So Utah is debating a non-discrimination ordinance and Texas isn’t. And Utah has a lesbian legislator and Texas doesn’t. Actually, Utah has three LGBT legislators. Sen. Scott McCoy and Rep. Jackie Biskupski are the others.

—  David Taffet

Gays need to stop stuffin' it down Utah senator's throat

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Utah state Sen. Chris Buttars said: “I don’t mind gays. I just don’t want ’em stuffin’ it down my throat all the time, and certainly in my kid’s face.”

The Utah Republican has been a staunch opponent of LGBT rights — until now. He authored the state’s anti-marriage law. But certainly he wouldn’t go against the wishes of the Mormon church.

Because the Mormon church has now supported protection for gays and lesbians in housing and employment in Salt Lake City, the senator might support those rights statewide. He may even sponsor the bill.

— David Taffet

—  Dallasvoice