I am gay and a leftist. I was also a state delegate to the Utah Republican State Convention this past weekend. I wanted to participate in democracy and offset the polarizing people who control our single-party state. Here is what I experienced at the convention:
In the 24 hours leading up to and including the convention, I witnessed more misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and racism than I’ve seen in the last seven years of living in Utah.
My precinct chair called me before the convention to ask who I was voting for (but mostly to give his own thoughts about the candidates). For the U.S. Senate race, he said he liked Mike Lee and “hadn’t looked into his opponents, but Ally Isom was an attractive female.”
During the convention, every conservative buzzword was mentioned (usually in a rambling list without any context): CRT, ESG, inflation, “Let’s Go Brandon,” socialism, Marxism, etc. No solutions were presented – just that the left was ruining everything.
When one candidate mentioned trans people, the three delegates behind me claimed “trans men are invading women’s bathrooms and raping them.” When immigration was mentioned, the two people next to me commented that “immigrants were pouring across the border and doing unspeakable things, all because the current administration was letting them.”
Several congressional candidates vowed to continue the fight against transgender athletes, and then exclaimed how the LGBT movement was grooming and sexualizing children with the end goal of making pedophilia acceptable to society.
Every accusation was unfounded and inaccurate. But that didn’t stop these GOP delegates. They applauded every candidate who recited these soundbites and overwhelmingly voted for those who simply spit out sensational words.
Worse yet, most delegates wanted to repeal the signature route for primaries. In 2014, Utah passed SB54, allowing candidates to gather signatures to participate in the primary. But the convention delegates this year expressed their hatred for SB54, repeatedly taking the microphone insisting that the Legislature repeal it. Removing the signature route would allow these delegates to hoard power for themselves so they could solely choose the Republican nominees (and effectively the state’s government and federal representatives).
Most of the 3,700 delegates in attendance were some of the worst Utahns out there, all gathered in one room, riling each other up into a mob mentality. I felt unsafe and unwelcome there, and in the state of Utah. But maybe that’s just me “being a snowflake.” Yet, as these delegates decried cancel culture, they booed everyone they disagreed with. They ridiculed wasteful spending, then applauded state GOP leaders for burning money on hopeless lawsuits. Their fragility was painfully ironic.
These GOP delegates were abusing democracy as a hobby, being taken advantage of, and enjoying the ride while empowering leaders who are ruining our state. And these leaders know that if they pander to these radical delegates, they will remain in power.
I went to the convention attempting to make Utah better, but my attempt was futile. Utah is going in a dangerous direction, and I’m honestly not sure what can be done. But I wanted to share my experience at the Utah GOP convention because it ultimately controls most of our state government today.
I feel lucky I’m not stuck in Utah forever. I worry Utah is irredeemable. Hopefully, those who are willing to stick around can save it. But after the convention, I realized it won’t be me.
Jake Tyler is a software engineer in Utah who takes pride in being a member of the LGBT community.