Bad Senators. No bone.
Senate OKs club measure: It would allow schools to ban gay alliances
The Senate has approved the ever-changing student clubs bill — now back to its original form — which would allow school officials to ban clubs that threaten “the physical, emotional … and moral well-being of students.”
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Tagged 2007 utah legislature, education, gay issues, politics, Utah
Looks like its time to revive the “Beavers and Buttars” comic:
Duo take aim at gay-straight alliances
At least one bill targeting gay-straight alliances in Utah public schools is expected to reappear in the 2007 Legislature.
Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who carried a bill last year, says another clubs bill will appear and, from his perspective, be “pretty much the same.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, also says he’s working on a bill that would be similar to the legislation he carried last year.
It was not immediately clear whether the two would work together.
“There will be a bill run,” Tilton said. “It’s likely I will be the House sponsor.”
Utah Pride Center executive director Valerie Larabee says the bills attack gay students but also could open a dialogue about the difficulties gay students may face in Utah public schools.
“Teachers, administrators and counselors are dealing with a lot of different youth,” Larabee said. “In my view, there is a lack of understanding about the different populations they serve. Because of that, the school environment is not safe for many youths.”
Tilton’s bill last year sought to warn parents that certain clubs could, if state law is violated, expose students to concepts including homosexual, heterosexual, transgender and transsexual themes, adult sexual molestation and abuse. A House committee debate centered on gay-straight alliances, of which there were believed to be 14 in Utah public schools.
Buttars’ bill had attempted to let school boards deny club status to gay-straight alliances or others to “protect the physical, emotional, psychological or moral well-being of students and faculty” and other provisions.
The clubs issue is touchy in Utah. In the mid-1990s, Salt Lake City School District banned all student clubs after a petition to form a gay-straight alliance at East High. It went through a federal lawsuit and ended up reinstating clubs before the dust settled years later.
Federal law requires school boards to allow gay-straight alliances if they’re going to open the doors to other non-curriculum clubs.
I am surprised and pleased to see these articles in this week’s local news on Transgender inviduals in Utah here and here. The articles chronicle the live of transgender citizens and provide awareness of transgender issues.
November is Transgender Awareness month and the articles give a timeline of events:
There are several scheduled events in celebration of Transgender Awareness Month. For information, go to http://www.glccu.com or call Jennifer Nuttall at 539-8800 ext. 13.
All the following events are free:
SATURDAY
Building Trans Communities: A Day with Jamison Green
Where: City and County Building, 451 S. State St., Room 315
What to expect: Green is an internationally known author, educator and transgender activist. He will lead three sessions about empowering transgender communities. Refreshments will be provided.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: “Connecting across Divides”
2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: “Effective Leadership”
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: “Becoming Visible!”: Green reads from his award-winning book “Becoming a Visible Man,” followed by a question and answer session.
RSVP: E-mail teaofutahevents@yahoo.com
MONDAY
National Day of Remembrance & TEA Party
Where: Utah Pride Center, 361 N. 300 West
When: 7 p.m.
What to expect: A candlelight vigil to honor late transgender individuals and gathering to celebrate those still living
TUESDAY
Movie and Popcorn
Where: Utah Pride Center, 361 N. 300 West
When: 7 p.m.
What to expect: Films about transgender issues
WEDNESDAY
Where: Salt Lake Main Library Downtown, 210 E. 400 South
When: 7 p.m.
What to expect: Showings of “Home Is Where the Heart Is” and “Transamerica”
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Tagged gay issues, gay rights, politics, transgender issues, Utah
In today’s SL Tribune: Buttars’ crusade stirs the pot again Pending bills: Church and state, judges’ terms are the focus this time
The conservative West Jordan Republican has asked state attorneys to draft a bill defining the separation of church and state outlined by America’s and the state’s founding documents. At the same time, he is proposing legislation to require state judges to face legislators in a second confirmation hearing after their first term in office. Critics say such a law would undermine the sacrosanct division between the branches of government.
“It’s gotten ridiculous. We have Christmas wars and White Cross wars,” said the chairman of the Judicial Confirmation Committee, referring to battles between atheists and the state. “The state has become hostile to religion.”
Buttars won’t release the details of this bill.
The other bill on which Buttars is working is obviously a personal one to get rid of what he calls “activist judges”.
Buttars’ other bill to change judicial retention rules is much more public. Buttars believes the vast majority of Utah judges – “about 98 percent,” he says – are doing their jobs just fine. It’s the others, the ones who have overstepped their bounds, he wants to hold accountable. He has a growing list of a dozen cases where he says judges have ignored or redefined state law – including a divorce battle over insurance.
But has Buttars overstepped his boundaries?
Buttars acknowledges he has not reviewed whether such a law would be constitutional. Legal scholars and judges alike say Buttars is creating a problem where none exists. They say Buttars’ legislation would upset the time-honored, delicately-balanced separation between the branches of government. The U.S. and Utah Constitutions already provide frustrated lawmakers a simple remedy for errant judges – they can simply change a law if they do not like a judge’s interpretation. Disgruntled voters can dump a judge they don’t like.
Quite a few folks are interviewed in this article about Buttars’ proposed legislation, most of whom recognize the absurdity of it.
Former University of Utah Law School professor John Flynn, who specialized in the Utah Constitution, agrees. He says Buttars’ legislation would be constitutionally “suspect.” Beyond that, “it’s asinine and absurd.”
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged education, evolution, gay issues, marriage, politics, Utah
This just in fromt he GLBT Center in Utah:
Massive campaign by right wing fails to move single senator, GLBT community’s phone calls and letters made a difference.
By a vote of 49 to 48, the U.S. Senate today rejected an effort to end debate and proceed to a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage federally and for every state as only between a man and a woman. Sixty votes were required to proceed, and 67 votes would have been required on a vote on the merits. Two years ago, a similar amendment failed at the same stage by a vote of 48 to 50. No senator who voted against a similar cloture motion in 2004 changed his or her vote today. (The other tally difference is explained being due to new senators elected in 2004 and other absences.) While Republicans gained four seats in 2004, the number of pro-amendment votes went up by only one today.
For further information, visit our partner, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
BUT IT’S NOT OVER!
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Proposed amendment to define marriage
The resolution is S.J. Res. 1 ”Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.”
Today is the day that U.S. Senators are expected to vote on ending the debate on the constitutional amendmnent defining marriage or taking it to a vote. U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch is a co-sponsor of the amendment. Both Hatch and Bennett say they are opposed gay marriage.
In today’s Salt Lake Tribune, Hatch is quoted as citing the constitutional amendment as “critical”:
Hatch also is outspoken on the amendment, calling it a “critical issue” for the country.
He took to the Senate floor Tuesday saying that while the Senate may not be able to agree to adopt the change, Americans have already “arrived at consensus” to ban gay marriages. He bashed “renegade judges” that have allowed such unions.
I concur with Senator Harry Reid’s (Nevada) comments:
“It is clear the reason for this debate is to divide our society, to pit one against another,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said this week on the Senate floor. “This is another one of the president’s efforts to frighten, to distort, to distract, and to confuse America.” Reid said it was a distraction from real issues of high gas prices, the war in Iraq and the national debt.
(However, it is important, and perhaps even puzzling, to note that Reid did vote for a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in his state but is against amending the U.S. Constitution.)
I would like to add to that list, poverty and hunger issues, homelessness, and lack of health care for millions of Americans.
Sunday was the annual PRIDE Festival in Salt Lake City. Because I and other folks who normally take photos were involved as participants, we weren’t able to take too many photos, but below are the ones I did take.
I was part of the Peace ‘N’ Diversity Contingent in the parade as a Radical Cheerleader.
There are plenty of good photos at One Utah.
There were articles on PRIDE in Monday’s
Desert News
and Salt Lake Tribune.
Broadcasts and web articles can be found at:
KUER Public Radio.
Tom King carries the giant dove for the Peace ‘N’ Diversity Contingent.
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June 1-4 is Utah’s annual PRIDE celebration.
Two Desert Greens Green Party of Utah candidats are scheduled to speak at the political stage at the June 4 PRIDE festival at Library Square:
The Desert Greens Green Party of Utah will also be in the parade in the morning, in the “Peace ‘N’ Diversity” contingent, and will have a table at the all day event.
View the schedule here.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective have determined that Utah ranks 43rd out of 50 when it comes to 25 different laws from abortion bans to outlawing gay marriages, according to the groups’ “Mapping Our Rights” Web site which debuted Wednesday, May 31.
Utah earned slot 43 by its tally of “penalty” points assigned by the groups to laws they feel limit an individual’s right to choose who to marry, when to have children or access to certain types of health care. The higher number of points the worse the ranking.
Utah received points for state laws mandating counseling before abortion, a waiting period before an abortion and parental involvement in minors’ abortions as well as a lack of hate-crime laws for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people, a ban on gay marriages, and an abstinence-only education policy in school, among other items.
Of course opponents to gay rights and abortion were pleased with the ranking:
But Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Eagle Forum, an anti-abortion group in Utah, said of the state’s low ranking, “Good for us.”
“I am certainly disappointed that we didn’t make 50,” she said.
Jane Marquardt, the board chair of Equality Utah, says that she has seen positive changes in the past 25 years as more gay people have become more open and things such as domestic partner benefits have come to light in the political arena. She pointed out that the Utah legislature has two gay members and that the whole country will experience a shift in its openness towards gay issues.
I have been offering posts here on the Kanab Natural Family Resolution and the controversy surrounding it.
Today you can read about the Mayor of Kanab’s “side” of the issue. This is part one of five in a series of articles the Salt Lake Tribune will be publishing this week on four “different types of families” in Kanab:
Today: The resolute mayor who pushed the resolution then and defends it now.
Tuesday: A hardworking doctor and an industrious mother who are rearing seven kids.
Wednesday: A councilwoman who still feels the sting of being unable to bear children.
Thursday: A single mother who works two jobs to support her three kids.
Friday: Two women who fell in love 16 years ago, raised a son and now care for a “full quiver” of cats.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 