News
2006-03-01
Activists and
lawmakers rally for gay student clubs in Utah
About 300 people
gathered at the state capitol on Monday to oppose
efforts to ban gay clubs in the state.
Roughly 300
people, mostly teenagers and young adults, gathered at a
rally in Salt Lake City on Monday to express their support
for gay student clubs and to oppose efforts by state
lawmakers to ban them. As well as wearing blue
"Equality" buttons and yellow tape in the shape of an
equal sign on their backs, some carried homemade signs that
read "I Love and Support My Gay Son" and "Equality—a
Fair and Just Utah!" the Salt Lake Tribune
reports.
The rally at the
state capitol was in part a response to legislation
proposed by state senator Chris Buttars, which would allow
school districts to ban student clubs that deal with
sexuality, including gay-straight alliances. Some at
the rally handed out fliers that read "Why is Chris
Buttars obsessed with gay sex?" Buttars's bill is
awaiting a house vote.
Scott McCoy, a
Salt Lake City Democrat and the state's only openly gay
senator, spoke to the crowd. "This is family day at the
legislature," he said, adding that gay families deserve the
same respect by lawmakers and protection by the law.
A.J. Barney, a gay college freshman, said he would
have loved to have had a gay-straight alliance in high
school. "It would have been nice to have people
support me for who I was instead of who I was pretending to
be," Barney said. (Advocate.com)
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