PRIDE in Utah

Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on April 16, 2010

Park City, UT – Last night in a unanimous vote, Park City joined the ranks of cities in Utah that no longer discriminate against Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender people in matters of housing and employment.

Park City, widely known as one of the most liberal areas of Utah, wanted to push things further and not include the exemptions SLC has like property owners with less than 4 units or businesses with less than 15 employees, but with Senate President Michael Waddoups threat of legislative action if any municipality did so – the Mayor decided to err on the side of safety. “All classes should have protection from discrimination,” said Park City Mayor Dana Williams.

The vote comes as a direct result of the brilliant strategy by Equality Utah to encourage  municipalities in the state to pass these protections. Hopefully the State Legislature will follow their example next year and pass state-wide protections.

Of course, the right-wing extremists are out and on the prowl. Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute and his ‘meronites’ have sent a letter to every single municipal-level elected official trying to coerce them to ignore the “homosexual activists.” The Mormon (LDS) church has already come out in support of these protections, and has said they should be enacted state-wide. Mero at least claims to be a staunch Mormon, so one wonders when his bishop will be calling him in asking why he is fighting against the ‘word of god’ by taking sides against the church.

Categories: Local In Utah
Tags: employment, Equality Utah, Gay, housing, housing and employement, lgbt, mayor dana williams, non-discrimination, park city, paul mero, protections, sutherland institute, unanimous vote, UT, utah