Utah: No Hearing on LGBT Rights

Utah state senator Ben McAdams tried to force a hearing on his bill to prohibit antigay discrimination, but saw his move rejected in a party-line vote.

By Advocate.com Editors

In a party-line vote, the Utah state senate Monday declined to schedule a hearing for a bill that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in housing and employment, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Democratic senator Ben McAdams (pictured), the sponsor, had tried to force a hearing on the bill, which is stalled in the senate rules committee, but senators rejected the move by a vote of 21-7, with Republicans in the majority.

In encouraging his fellow senators to allow a hearing, McAdams said, “Some of you may worry about the controversy and hateful e-mails you might receive. I believe the dialogue will be respectful and it will be constructive. ... I refuse to accept that religious liberty is incompatible with protection of gay and transgender people in their home and on the job.”

Rules committee chair Margaret Dayton, however, said not every one of the 1,200 bill requests filed in the senate can get a hearing, and McAdams should not expect special treatment for his. Republican senator Chris Buttars added that he saw no need for the antidiscrimination bill: “I don’t know why we try to press these things out like this when there isn’t a demand for it.”

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LGBT Protections for Utah County

By Advocate.com Editors

Now that Grand County has joined the 10 Utah cities and counties with LGBT protections in housing and employment discrimination, one in four Utahns are protected from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the developments could help build support to pass such protections in the Utah state legislature.

“Sen. Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City, plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing housing and employment laws banning discrimination based on characteristics such as race, religion or national origin,” reports the Tribune.

Attempts to pass protections at the state level have failed in each of the past three years, but a poll from January shows that two-thirds of Utahns support such a law.

Salt Lake City became the first city in Utah to ban employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2009, with support from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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