A fund-raiser for
the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights
organization, drew 620 guests and a number of protesters to
the Orem, Utah, home of WordPerfect cofounder
Bruce Bastian. They guests paid $150 to attend
Saturday's event. The demonstrators carried signs such as
"See no evil, hear no evil, read no evil" and "STOP Same Sex Marriage." "Walking by the hecklers, then seeing how
wonderful everything is, I thought, 'You guys are
missing out,"' said Millie Watts, who with her
husband, Gary Watts, received the HRC Equality Award for
their advocacy in Family Fellowship, a Provo-based
organization that focuses on strengthening
relationships and educating families with gay and lesbian members. Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, Utah
attorney general Mark Shurtleff, Democratic state
senator Scott McCoy, and Democratic state
representative Jackie Biskupski received standing ovations
when they were announced. They were among about a
dozen Utah politicians who purchased seats for the
event. Tipper Gore, wife of former Democratic presidential
candidate Al Gore, was the keynote speaker. Family, however defined, must be the nation's
highest priority, she said. "No one should ever judge,
stigmatize, or fear someone because of the love they
feel for another, whether the same or opposite sex," she said. Allowing same-sex marriage does not threaten
traditional marriage, she said. "I do not find it
surprising that Massachusetts continues to have one of
the lowest divorce rates in the country while Texas has one
of the highest," she said to exuberant cheers. "Vermont has
had five years of civil unions, and still the sun
comes up every morning and Vermont families stay
intact. Isn't it clear that we are growing and
strengthening families by including everyone?" In addition to Gary and Millie Watts, two others
were given HRC Equality awards. Salt Lake City-based
attorney Laura Milliken Gray was honored for being the
first attorney in Utah to find a way to allow same-sex Utah
couples to legally adopt children after legislation was
passed banning such adoptions. The Right Reverend
Carolyn Tanner Irish, bishop of the Episcopal diocese
of Utah, was honored for bolstering gay individuals and
families in the state as well as her support of
the ordination of the nation's first openly gay
Episcopal bishop. (AP)
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