Gay People are Not "Dirty Shirts"

[Your Utah Legislature] Last night, in his State of the State address, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. offered the typical laundry list an executive hands off to the legislative branch. Fund some new roads (though this was a surprise, given all highway projects had been put on hold last fall when the economy tanked). Support health care reform. Go for green energy projects.

And be kind to others. Help your neighbors in need. Help neighbors you don't even know. Be decent.

Funny. Just a few hours earlier, the Senate Judiciary Committee slammed to the ground the first in a rational package of gay-rights bills to the ground--right along party lines, of course. Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, sponsored the measure as part of what gay-rights activists are calling the "Common Ground Initiative." It would have allowed financial dependents to sue if a breadwinner suffers a wrongful death. The law would have covered same-sex, long-term partners as well as anyone else in a family who relies on someone for financial support--grandparents or siblings, for example.

Republicans on the committee, of which Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, is chairman, were in fine form. They pulled out the "slippery slope" argument--as in, if we pass this bill, gay people will soon be nabbing our children off the street. (Don't laugh. I don't even want to know how many legislators actually believe it.) Another senator fretted that McCoy's bill is a "dirty shirt" in a laundry basket of marriage rights that would lead to legalization of same-sex marriage. Even though the state of Utah amended its constitution in 2004 to ban same sex-marriage.

McCoy and others who support Common Ground (and recent polls show most Utahns do), promise they'll work the other bills in the package and not give up. It's going to take the patience of those who fought for civil rights for blacks and for suffragists who battled for equal rights for women. It's going to take forever.

That said, will our elected leaders in this state ever, ever rise to a higher level of debate on this matter? Hate-filled speech, ugly analogies, unkind and fear-based arguments overshadow every discussion about gay rights at this Legislature. Their own Republican governor has implored them to practice basic human kindness to others. Still, comparing the gay and lesbian civil rights fight to a "dirty shirt?" Just sad. (Holly Mullen)

No MoTabs at the Inauguration

[Inauguration Inventory] The University of Utah marching band made the trek to Barack Obama's inauguration. But what of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?

The small observation party in our living room today noticed the conspicuous absence of the choir, which has made five inaugural appearances for five modern presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and both Bush 41 and 43.

Of course, it's pretty likely none of those guys would have invited Usher to join inauguration festivities, either.

The MoTabs' absence left us chewing on this: With all the fallout the new president faced over asking the Rev. Rick Warren to open today's historic event with prayer, could Obama's posse have sensed the bad political mojo over aligning even slightly with the pro-Propostion 8 Mormon Church?

Steve Fidel, writing for the Deseret News online vehicle Momon Times, put it this way:

"Overall it appears that involvement in the Obama inauguration by LDS Church members will be significantly less conspicuous than in some past inaugurations." (Holly Mullen)

You, Too, Can Lobby for Gay Rights

[Utah Legislature 2009]Equality Utah, eager to see the 2009 Utah Legislature adopt its "Common Ground Initiative" of six gay rights bills, will sponsor an evening of citizen lobbyist training Thursday.

The free workshop runs from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room 445 of the State Capitol. Anyone interested in lobbying for human rights issues in Utah is enthusiastically encouraged to attend, says Keri Jones, program manager with Equality Utah.

State Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, will be on hand to advise the best ways to approach lawmakers and to discuss the Common Ground Initiative--which includes proposals for fair housing, workplace and inheritance rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people. Equality Utah will also be running a gay adoption bill again.

Salt Lake City Democratic Reps. Jennifer Seelig, Christine Johnson and Rebecca Chavez-Houck will also discuss the Common Ground bills they are sponsoring.

I asked Equality Utah's Jones why Utahns sympathetic to gay causes should even attend, given the openly hostile environment toward GLBT folks from so many neanderthals on the Hill. And why should they care, given the fact that Utahns did their own big part to fund the passage of Proposition 8 in California.

"Largely because of the marriage debate [in Hawaii and later California], Americans are now faced with questions of what protections should be available to loving [same-sex] couples. Utah hasn't answered that question and it's time for us to do so," Jones says.

Some of the bills in question will require widespread legislative support and "may not pass this year," says a hopeful Jones. "But we remain optimistic and ready to work hard."

Whether you're gay or straight, you may want to give these folks a hand. Strength in numbers and all of that. They'll save a chair for you Thursday night at the Capitol. (Holly Mullen)

Jon and Huck

[More Gay Marriage] I was way late to this discussion with Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee on the issue of same-sex marriage. I just saw the Dec. 8 episode of The Daily Show last night, while catching up on all my Comedy Central recordings. Please to excuse my tardiness in sharing this with you.

This video clip shows why Stewart is one of the best interviewers working right now. Of course the guy gets the laughs. But when he wants an answer from a shifty politician like Huckabee, he works as hard as anyone in the business to get it. And if he doesn't get the answer, at least he bores into a subject hard enough to make the guy squirm a bit.

It's long, but worth watching. (Holly Mullen)

When Do Gays Get a Bailout?

[Politics as Usual] Stephen Wade and John Garff trundled off to Washington D.C. yesterday to lobby hard for the bailout for U.S. automakers.

They need help, these poor guys. They are begging for money to aid their troubled industry. Wade owns a chain of car dealerships in St. George; Garff is a top executive at the Ken Garff chain in Salt Lake City.

Poor Mr. Wade may be cash-strapped right now, but his economic status was no worry in November, when he found an extra $10,000 for the Proposition 8 campaign in California to keep gays and lesbians from marrying. As for Garff, his mother, Katharine, gave $100,000 to Prop 8 in the Golden State. (Holly Mullen)

Utah's Big Pro-Prop 8 Donors

[Prop 8 Fallout] Several e-mails and photocopies are floating through Salt Lake City calling out companies, trusts and business owners who contributed heavily to the anti-same-sex marriage California measure, and urging people not to patronize their businesses. After doing some research, I found the following contributors to the Prop 8 campaign. The information is public and you can find all donors, pro and con, here. The biggest Utah spenders in support of Prop 8, according to California campaign finance records include:

Katharine Garff, Bountiful, member of the State Board of Regents and wife of Robert Garff, CEO of Garff Motors: $100,000.

Henry Marsh, Bountiful, 4-time Olympic athlete, world-record holder in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, attorney, motivational speaker and co-founder of multi-level marketing company MonaVie, a berry juice purported to have nutritional and anti-oxidant properties: $49,000.

Kenneth Newby, St. George, owner of Newby Buick: $10,000.

Stephen Wade, St. George, owner of Stephen Wade Automotive Group: $10,000.

David Moon, Provo, general partner of Esnet, LTD, an information technology investment firm: $200,000.

Brent Bishop, Farmington, board chairman of ContentWatch, an Internet filtering software company: $30,000.

Francis Magleby, Provo, BYU art professor emeritus and painter of LDS temple murals throughout the world: $25,000.

Brent Andrus, Park City, operator of Huntington Hotels: $25,000.

Jay Clark, Centerville, co-owner of A & Z Produce wholesalers: $25,000.

Scott and Randy Wilkinson, St. George, co-owners of Wilkinson Electric: $30,000 ($10,000 each from Scott and Randy; $10,000 from Wilkinson Electric.)

Meanwhile Equality Utah, the advocacy group for the state's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, issued a press release today calling for calm in the growing number of protests against the LDS Church's involvement in passing Proposition 8.

"We must engage in civil and peaceful expressions and conduct. There is no room for violence, vandalism or intimidation -- Equality Utah objects to these acts.

... Equality Utah remains confident that the LDS Church will be true to its past public statements that it is not anti-gay. We believe the Church will show its genuine compassion for the needs of Utah’s gay and transgender people and their families who rightly ask for basic legal protections," the statement reads.

EU executive director Mike Thompson adds: "During such an emotional time, where wounds run deep, we must remind ourselves of the greater good. We must make efforts to forgive where forgiveness is needed and fix what needs to be fixed. We must find ways to work together – families in our community are depending on us. As the LDS Church stated, we can build a better society. Equality Utah is committed to doing just that.”

Another round of anti-Proposition 8 protests are scheduled around the country for this weekend, including here in Salt Lake City. In southern California, gay rights advocates have targeted several businesses for boycott, including a restaurant and car dealership.

(Holly Mullen)

The Prop 8 Protest Beat

[Civil Disobedience] Like my co-worker, Ted McDonough, I got well-mashed between throngs of Proposition 8 protesters who demonstrated in front of the LDS Church headquarters at 50 North Temple in downtown Salt Lake City last night.Organizers of the rally put the number of protesters at more than 3,000. Around 7:15 p.m., a police officer I talked to estimated crowd size at 2,000. Conventional wisdom among reporters who cover such things is you land somewhere in the middle of those two sources. So I'll go with 2,500.

No matter. It was a mess 'o humanity.

The official church statement in reaction to the event showed the sect's typical shock and dismay that people might actually take to the streets to fight the church's deep involvement with political issues like this one . Church spokesman Scott Trotter, in the statement, said in part:

...it is wrong to target the church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.

Since I was there for the entire evening, I can tell you with certainty that the church's main symbol of sacredness and worship-- the temple--was not targeted in any way. I walked the parameter outside Temple Square twice while interviewing people. The temple was not targeted. At all. The event was peaceful. Many of the marchers I stood around took great pains NOT to trample the church property gardens, for instance. The area surrounding Temple Square is open to the public and maintained through tax dollars. Everyone had a right to be there. And there were 50 or so counter-protesters, as well.

Anti-8 protesters did, in fact, stop outside the Church Office Building for several minutes each time they circled the area. They chanted, shouted and waved signs outside the building--which is where the church officials do their work, including crafting strategies to advance an anti-gay agenda--and the HQ building is a legitimate symbol of protest. The marchers I witnessed and the dozens I spoke with had no intention of singling out the temple, and for the church p.r. staff to paint the protest that way is simply a lie. (Holly Mullen)

Are You a Good Parody? Or a Bad Parody?

[Now That's Good Parody] From Homotracker, here are a couple of TV spots that not only illustrate the folly of California Proposition 8, but also nicely parody Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads.

Part I:



Part II:



It's good parody because it keeps a light touch and pays attention to detail: The "Mac vs. PC" ads are multipartite and depict the "PC" character in various silly and unfortunate circumstances that he has brought upon himself by his own neuroses. The "Mac" character is sympathetic but maintains a polite distance, since PC is prone to misunderstand and vaguely rebuff Mac's attempts at helpfulness.

The fact that right-wingers are incapable of parody is no secret, although why this is so remains a mystery. As evidenced by attempts such as Fox News' failed The 1/2 Hour News Hour [note] or the ersatz Michael Moore parody An American Carol, right-wingers know that they should be parodying the left in some way, any way--their studies have shown that it's "the hip thing to do" or something--but they just can't seem to figure out exactly how to pull it off.

The right-wing sense of humor is angry and heavy-handed, motivated by a sense of fear and impotent rage. It is the nasty taunt hurled, not by a 10-year-old playground bully, but by the 10-year-old victim of that playground bully--in retaliation, from behind Teacher's plaid skirts.

If the anti-gays had produced these ads, PC would be flouncing around limp-wristedly in a black-leather harness and pink tutu, attacking married couples with little kids. At some point, Mac would break the fourth wall and address the camera directly, asking, "Is this what you want for your children?"

And what a laugh that would be.

Humor requires self-awareness, curiosity, a certain amount of intellect and a good measure of empathy--all of which seem to be in short supply among self-styled "conservatives."

The reason the left is so good at parody is that, for decades, freethinkers and creative types were trapped in the postmodern dilemma--a reality in which it became impossible to express oneself genuinely, without sarcasm. Things moved on; the rediscovery of earnestness received much acclaim, and eventually the left managed to recapture a certain amount of sincerity.

Right-wingers will, eventually, develop a knack for parody. But what a multilayered irony it is that, by the time they do so, it will have become utterly passé.

(Brandon Burt)