This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
We now have gay marriage in Utah. The governor gives credit to an "activist" judge, but the decision was inevitable because of real activists: gays and their parents, families and friends working together to right a societal wrong ("Utah seeks outside help in request for gay-marriage stay," Tribune, Dec. 27).
Our hats are off to gays who came out and their supporters who stepped forward and together made truth too obvious to distort.
Many churches were turning parents against their own kids for the protection of age-old discriminatory dogma, but when parents rebelled and united, and brought along their siblings and their friends, it was like a snowball coming down from the tops of the mountains, and it filled the valleys with joy and goodness.
The movement was clear; it pitted love against hate, and, thankfully, love is winning.
There are still those who resist the idea of loving acceptance of gays, but when they raise their voices it is obvious even to them that their message lacks resonance and harmony, and so they are muting themselves.
The landscape has shifted. It has now become uncool to express disdain toward gays. Churches are now having to love gays to save themselves.
Peace on earth!
Joe and Sharon Watts
Murray