This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Charges filed this week against the "Capitol 13" made me consider just how much contempt some in our Legislature have for Utah's LGBT citizens. Having citizens arrested because they have the audacity to demand their elected representatives consider their constituents' concerns is evidence enough of this contempt. But the underlying reason for the charges is far more insidious.
It must be remembered that the 13 were originally arrested because they requested their representatives debate a bill that would have protected LGBT Utahns from employment and housing discrimination. Lawmakers, however, refused to consider this bill for fear its (apparently presumed) defeat would show animus against LGBT Utahns, thus potentially weakening the state's argument that those citizens should not be able to marry those they love.
To not consider a bill that would provide citizens modest protections against discrimination because you fear it may undermine your argument that those same citizens should remain unequal before the eyes of the law reveals the contempt I spoke of far more than the charges filed this week ever could.
Animus indeed.
Shane Stroud
Salt Lake City