HRC Blog

TAKE ACTION: Call on Utah Senate President to condemn hateful anti-gay remarks by Sen. Chris Buttars

February 20, 2009

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In response to a much-publicized anti-gay tirade made by Utah State Senator Chris Buttars, HRC today issued a national action alert demanding Utah Senate President Michael G. Waddoups condemn his remarks. While being interviewed for a documentary by filmmaker Reed Cowan, Sen. Buttars called the LGBT-rights movement “probably the greatest threat to America.” Buttars also said “homosexuality will always be a sexual perversion,” adding that same-sex relationships are “abominations.” To make matters worse, Senate President Michael G. Waddoups released a statement defending Buttars’ statements, saying that they did not violate any Senate rules. With permission from the filmmaker, the Human Rights Campaign created a video of the senator’s comments. Watch it here:

We're calling on our community to not let Sen. Buttars's words go unchallenged. Use our action alert to take action and contact the President of the Utah Senate. Buttars's disdain for the LGBT community obviously runs very deep. He played a key role in defeating a package of bills called the Common Ground Initiative, a set of measures aimed at advancing equal rights for LGBT people in Utah. The final bill in the Common Ground Initiative failed to move forward on Wednesday. Sen. Buttars was recorded in the interview as saying, “It lost 4-2, and I killed it. I’ve killed every one they’ve brought for eight years.” And just last year, the NAACP called for Sen. Buttars resignation after he described a complex school-funding bill by saying, “This baby is black . . . It's a dark, ugly thing.” (Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 19, 2009) The Utah State Senate should not be a place where lawmakers take pride in using their position and prejudices to demonize a group of people. Call on the Utah Senate President to condemn Sen. Buttars' remarks and censure him officially.