Dan Aiello, writing at the Bay Area Reporter, has a piece up on anti-discrimination laws just passed in Salt Lake City, Utah. That a major American city might comprehend the value of protecting its LGBT citizens from discrimination in housing and employment would surprise few fair-minded Americans. The surprise here is that the ordinance had the full support of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).
The Salt Lake City Council unanimously adopted the ordinances Tuesday, November 10. The ordinances passed after receiving the support of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and followed a public relations nightmare for the Mormons months earlier.
“We applaud the LDS for their support,” said Will Carlson, public affairs manager for Equality Utah, who called the Mormon Church’s support “substantial.”
While the article notes that “one in five LGBT Utahans are residents of Salt Lake City,” Carlton cautions, “Across most of Utah you can still be fired or evicted for being gay or lesbian, so Salt Lake City’s ordinances are an important step in making sure people in Utah are safe in their homes and able to earn a living, but it is only a step.”
Speculation as to why the Mormon Church appeared to change its position on the anti-discrimination protections for LGBT residents focused on a July incident when a gay couple was arrested by Salt Lake City police after kissing on a plaza owned by the church. Officers were called to the plaza after the men were detained by church security guards.
That incident led to a large number of LGBT kiss-ins across the United States, including here in San Diego, both at the Mormon Temple and at Prop 8 donor Doug Manchester’s Grand Hyatt.
There’s much more at Aiello’s article on this surprising change in attitude by the Mormons.
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