HRC Blog

Over and over again we hear from media, politicians, and some pastors that religion is on one side and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is on another. This narrow view of religion is causing serious harm to young people who feel as if they have a choice to either remain in their congregation but in the closet or leave their faith behind. Such a perspective also does terrible damage to the mothers and fathers of LGBT youth who feel they have to choose between God and their family. Such a dichotomy is devastating to families and creates unnecessary physical, psychic, not to mention spiritual damage.

It's 7:30am on the last day in Salt Lake City. The bus is being set up at beautiful Liberty Park downtown. We will be here from 9am until 2pm today and at 10am we will host a 5k fun run to benefit Volunteers for America's efforts to build a home for homeless young men and boys.

Dr. Ryan doesn't place moral judgments on the choices parents have made about raising LGBT kids. She understands that the impulse to refuse to talk about sexuality in the home, or to forbid kids from associating with other LGBT friends is often an attempt to protect kids from the brutality of our culture. Yet her research clearly shows that increased levels of acceptance overwhelmingly decrease risky behavior in young adults.

We have certainly hit the ground running here in Salt Lake City. Yesterday we kicked off the national bus tour, “On the Road to Equality,” with a bang at the Utah Pride Center. It was an exciting day with our partners at Equality Utah, the Utah Pride Center, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. And our day didn’t end after the ribbon was cut.

The kick-off ribbon cutting ceremony for HRC’s “On the Road to Equality” nationwide bus tour just wrapped up here at the Utah Pride Center. It was a really exciting and uplifting experience featuring Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, local leaders including Bruce Bastian, and HRC President Joe Solmonese.