During the Prop 8 campaign in California, the LDS Church emphasized that it was not "anti-gay" and that it "does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights." In an effort to work together with the church in ensuring that same-sex couples in Utah have these rights, Equality Utah launched the Common Ground Initiative, a group of bills currently being discussed in Utah's 2009 legislative session. These bills do not seek to legalize same-sex marriage or anything like it; rather, they seek to ensure that all Utahns have the rights specifically named in the above quote from the LDS Church.
Whether you support same-sex unions or not, I would hope that you, like Equality Utah and the LDS Church, support legal protections that treat all people fairly and equally. If you live in Utah, I urge you to contact your representative and encourage him or her to support the Common Ground Initiative. You can find your representatives and their email addresses here, and this page includes sample messages that you can copy, paste, and personalize as you see fit.
You don't have to be a gay activist to support equal rights. If you live in Utah, please take a minute to do what you can.
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4 comments:
Thank you. I was aware that those bills were being considered, and I have been hoping that they would pass. (I believe pass is the good direction this time...right?) I knew I should do more than just hope about it, but I hadn't been motivated to go find all this information on my own.
So, thank you for kicking me in the butt. I just sent emails to my state representative and senator--the first time I've ever done that in my life.
Thank you.
Janci, you are my hero of the day. I can't do much as I don't live in Utah, so I figured encouraging others to do something was the next best thing.
Did you hear the exciting news today? Governor Huntsman came out in support of civil unions. It's very encouraging to see this, even though something like 70% of Utahns oppose civil unions according to a recent SLTrib poll. Also, unfortunately one of the initiatives has already been defeated - the wrongful death one. I am really discouraged that the very vocal Church in California is now so very silent in Utah...
Yeah, the lack of more explicit support from the church is disheartening, as is the failure of the first bill, but Governor Huntsman's support is encouraging. Baby steps.
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