Chris Buttars is trying to do everything he can to ban gay clubs from schools.
Buttars, the Utah legislator who has “come out” against the Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs (GSA) and also against the teaching of evolution as the sole concept in public school science classes, is pushing a bill that contains this language: [would prohibit] “a Nazi club, abortion club or sodomy club”.
From today’s Deseret News:
SB97 directs schools to deny clubs or their use of school buildings if their charter or activities would encourage criminal conduct, promote bigotry, or involve human sexuality.
Involving human sexuality is defined as “promoting or encouraging self-labeling by students in terms of sexual orientation; disclosing attitudes or personal conduct of students or members of their families regarding sexual orientation, attitudes or beliefs; advocating, approving or engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage; or presenting or discussing information relating to the use of contraceptive devices or substances, regardless of whether the use is for purposes of contraception or personal health.”
The bill is “designed to catch all non-desirable clubs, be it a Nazi club, abortion club or sodomy club,” Buttars said. “Schools need to have the ability to control and regulate.”
There are 14 GSA’s in Utah and Boards of each district have the autonomy to decide its acceptance of any proposed clubs as defined by the criteria of protect[ing] the “physical, emotional, psychological or moral well-being of students and faculty,” maintain[ing] order, protect[ing] parent and student rights, maintain[ing] “boundaries of socially appropriate behavior” or ensur[ing] compliance with all applicable laws and policies.
Buttars, with heavy influence by the ultra right-wing Utah Eagle Forum and its President Gayle Ruzicka, is obviously pushing forward a personal agenda to impose moral standards of one group of citizens on the whole of all citizens.
While there are people starving, being ousted from their homes because they cannot pay rent or heating bills, while our children are in need of better funding for their education, while our state is at risk for expansion of toxic waste dumping grounds and therefore putting all our citizens at extreme health risks……Buttars is spending limited legislative time to put into law a bill that would be exlusionary of groups whose morals he personally objects to.
This bill is innappropriate, a waste of legislators time and de facto a total waste of taxpayers’ dollars.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 
Another Issue about which Chris has no clue….
Chris Buttars has demonstrated his lack of understanding (not to mention lack of compassion) yet again, by sponsoring this ludicrous piece of legislation.
Another way that he has embarrassed Utah in the eyes of the world, is thru his sponsorship of bills that would forbid the teaching of evolution in science class without giving equal time to religious beliefs (ie intelligent design, which is a eupemism for Creationism). I heard him on the radio the other day, and again read the same thing in a quote in the Tribune. He demonstrated his complete lack of understanding of the basic concepts of evolution when he tried to refute the theory of evolution with the following allegory. He said “I have seen big dogs and little dogs and all kinds of cats, but I have never seen a “dat””. Senator Buttars thereby demonstrated that he doesn’t grasp the theory of evolution even slightly.
Here is another allegory, that is put into words that perhaps will be on a level that he can relate to and thereby, if he takes the time to review it, he might broaden his depth of understanding of the concepts of evolution.
At one time, as demonstrated by the fossil record, there were very few kinds of furry animals (mammals) in the world. Most animals had either scales, or feathers, but at one time there was only ONE kind of furry animal. Now, the scientific name of this one kind of furry animal is too hard to pronounce, so we will just call it a “rat”, since rats are similar in a size and other ways to this ancient kind of furry animal. Now, as time passed and more and more of these “rats” began to spread out over the world and encounter different environments, the “rats” took advantage of the various food sources they found and ADAPTED to them. This led in time to changes in the different groups of “rats” around the world, so that some of them began adapting in ways that made them start to resemble “cats”, and others began to resemble “dogs”. Therefore, as this process of adaptation occurred over time, those “rats” that were adapting (evolving) to be like “cats” became in time what we will call “crats”, and the doglike “rats” became “drats”. Now, after these different groups had evolved (adapted) to sit into there different environments over a long period of time, the “drats” could no longer have babies if they “married” a “crat”. And, over a long, long, long time, after the process of adaptation to various environments continued, the “crats” eventually evolved into the various kinds of “cats” we see today, just as the “drats” adapted until their far flung descendants became “Dogs”. Now, as a side note, although we can see the obvious relation between a Tiger and a Tabby cat, the fact remains that no one is ever going to see “Tagby” cat (a cross for Chris’s benefit between tiger and housecat), because the Tiger and the Tabby have each evolved far enough away from what was a common ancestor, that they can’t have babies together even if they do get “married”.
There, now if the esteemed Senator Buttars will just take the time to read thru the above about 20 times, then I feel confident that he will be able to gain a much better understanding of why he made a laughing stock of the entire State of Utah in the eyes of the entire WORLD, with his laughable allegory about “dats”.
Butters
I am an 18 year old lesbian in mt. Pleasant, Utah. I would like to know if there are any protests being held about this SB #97. If you know when any are going on would you please contact me? I have a bus load of students, and some faculty, from Wasatch Academy who would love to make their gay-straight voices heard. Thank you for your time.
Meisja Turner
me_is_ja@yahoo.com
Re: Butters
I’m not aware of any publicized events, however here are two things:
1) You can contact Bonita Jones at the State Capitol to obtain a permit to have a rally.
Email: bonitajones@utah.gov; Phone: 801-538-3264; Fax: 801-538-9736
2) I have forwarded your information onto the folks at Equality Utah, info@equalityutah.org
If I hear of anything I will be sure to let you know!