Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor

….and all he can talk about is homosexuality.

Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, has returned to the Utah Legislative Session. Buttars is the legislator who introduced legislation to do away with the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Clubs in public schools in Utah.

There are actually two bills introduced, one approved in the Senate and the other approved in the House, with Republicans voting for and Democrats against the bills. The second bill, introduced by Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, doesn’t mention the GSA clubs, but clearly is aimed at them.

You can hear a partial audio clip of the hearing and testimony at One Utah

I find it humorous that Buttars said school boards could stop the Gay-Straight Alliance from meeting on school property because such clubs advocate “sexual activity outside of legally recognized marriage.”
Utah school boards have transparently stated their positions for allowing such clubs in schools and oppose Buttars bill. To prevent one club over another from meeting would violate the Equal Access Act. Furthermore, there are other lawmakers who do not see the need for this bill.

But Buttars believes homosexuality violates America’s “traditional morals” and Utah’s 14 active Gay-Straight Alliances “indoctrinate” students to support that “immorality.”
“If we continue down the road of tearing down the pillars of traditional morality, what will be left with? Only the philosophies of men,” Buttars said.

Despite proof of the contrary, Buttars and Tilton insist that the GSA meets to discuss sex. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In light of the fact that there is anti-bullying legislation in this year’s legislative agenda, I thought it very timely to read this statement in today’s paper:

After [today’s] hearing, emotional students from Hunter High’s Gay-Straight Alliance gathered outside of the committee room to comfort each other. They have tracked the bill and lobbied lawmakers, saying the club is a social network that increases student’s self-esteem, encourages diversity and protects students from bullies.

Buttars is, quite unfortunately, the senator of my district. I do not condone this piece of legislation and highly resent that he is spending time, funded by my tax dollars, to continually push this through when there are pressing issues such as mass transportation (that was completely cut out on my road), heating assistance for the poor and finding ways to make our eductational system even better than it is by allocating more funds, not to mention an array of other issues that affect all citizens’ needs.

I know students who are member of the GSA. My son, a heterosexual 19-year-old, became a member of it when he was in high school. He told me, “Mom, I joined because I was tired of seeing so much attack being made on students who supported GSA. It’s not about gay issues. It’s about issues that affect us all.”

Stop already Chris Buttars. Enough is enough. You are working for me and hosts of others who want you to spend your time truly representing your consituents – not pushing forward your personal agenda.