Tag Archives: Utah

The saga continues in Kanab and its “natural family resolution” issue.

Some Kanab citizens have banded together to issue arecall of the mayor and council of Kanab.

“We are reaching out to a broad spectrum of individuals and political groups to make sure they know about the resolution and the way it was handled down here in Kanab,” said Scott Clemans, a member of a grassroots organization in Kanab that is calling for state legislators to create a method for recalling elected officials who fall from favor.
“I don’t know what kind of a response we’ll get, but I do know there are many folks who recognize the need for a recall law.”

The group has been in contact with the ACLU and is awaiting a response. Utah has no current provision for such a recall. The group is hoping through their pursuits to change that.

“The mayor and City Council members are autocrats rather than public servants,” McCrystal said. “This is not a partisan issue. When elected officials are more interested in suppressing public opinion than listening to it, they’ve violated their sacred trust and need to be removed from office.”

Group members believe that their rights have been violated and are preparing for possible court action.

“I believe the disgruntled folks of Kanab may indeed have a legitimate claim against Kanab officials for a violation of the First Amendment under the First Amendment’s anti-establishment clause,” Victor Sipos said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. “The religious nature of Kanab’s resolution is virtually beyond question. Regardless of the actual text of the resolution, most people understand it to be religious in nature.”

Larry Miller, the entrepeneur who pulled the film Brokeback Mountain from his megaplex movie theater, met civil protest at an event at the University of Utah at which Miller was a speaker.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune article, about 75% of the attendees wore cowboy hats as they sat in silence during Miller’s speech.

“We’re wearing the hats to show how individuals were hurt when he didn’t show ‘Brokeback Mountain,'” said Charles Milne, coordinator for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center at the U. But “we’re going to be here listening to his speech in celebration of his right to speak.”

A smaller group of the protesting students, participants of the LGBT Center at the U, met with Miller before the speech in an attempt to promote some common dialogue and to educate Miller on issues associated with the GLBT community. Miller’s reaction:

Before moving into his planned speech, Miller took a few minutes to describe that meeting. “Something remarkable happened in this building the other day,” he said, tears welling in his eyes. “For two hours, we had a remarkably open dialogue, and I learned a lot.’
Miller said people on all sides of the issue went into the meeting “with one thing in common: fear and trepidation,” but the group quickly established a feeling of respect, if not agreement. Miller said people in the meeting told him stories of being ostracized by family members and the community in general because of their sexual orientation.
“One of the great lessons learned by me, and maybe others in that room, is that we have a lot more in common than we previously thought.”

It appears that some ice may have been broken. Kudos to these students for addressing this issue in a civil, non-violent way.