Thursday, November 12, 2009

Perhaps the LDS Church ought to find new allies

From the Provo Daily Herald:

At the same time, the church's position has angered some of its conservative allies on social issues, has prompted questions about whether public relations is its real motivation, and put the church on the spot over how far it will go on similar legislation on the state and federal level.

. . .

Some of the church's conservative allies in the gay marriage battles, however, call it a setback. The two new ordinances make it illegal to fire or evict someone for being gay, bisexual or transgender.

Such legislation robs employers and landlords of their rights and gives legal ammunition to judges sympathetic to gay marriage, said Peter Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies at the conservative Family Research Council.

"It's disappointing, and I'm fearful that it reflects in part a reaction to the attacks they came under after Proposition 8 -- an effort to bend over backwards to exhibit tolerance toward homosexuals in some way," Sprigg said.

And from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Still, conservative stalwarts the Sutherland Institute and the Eagle Forum have vowed to fight any statewide anti-discrimination measures.

On Wednesday, Gayle Ruzicka, leader of the Eagle Forum, said Salt Lake City's new ordinances are "very discriminatory."

"We expected the church not to have a problem because they've been carved out of it. The rest of us have not been carved out of it," she said. The ordinances "discriminate against people who have personal religious beliefs."

2 comments:

  1. It's going to be fun watching the ultra-conservative Utah political groups deal with this. I think they assumed that their positions enjoyed at least unofficial LDS Church support.

    This whole thing is a really heartening development. The Church has just distinguished itself from the Christian Right in a very significant way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perhaps? Thanks for the chuckle.

    Like Steve M. said, it's popcorn time.

    But no matter how this turns out, good on the LDS for staking out a position based on more than simple denial. Progress!

    ReplyDelete

Please provide a name or consistent pseudonym with your comments and avoid insults or personal attacks against anyone or any group. All anonymous comments will be immediately deleted. Other comments are subject to deletion at my discretion.