Common Ground Initiative in Utah Makes Headway in the Aftermath of Prop 8

by Michael A. Jones

Published November 20, 2008 @ 05:08PM PST

Drama coming out of Salt Lake City, with an anti-gay marriage supporter telling the Utah legislature that gay marriage is to blame for childhood obesity and childhood anxiety.

First, the good news. A pro-gay rights bill cleared its first hurdle in the Utah Legislature this week, making it past the Judiciary Interim Committee. The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Scott McCoy (D-Salt Lake City), intends to reform Utah's wrongful death law, so that financial dependents of either the same-sex or different sex could sue if a breadwinner suffers. It's a pretty straightforward bill that would help not only same-sex couples, but also a grandfather who relies on his daughter for support (or another relationship of the like).

Utah, with a large population of Mormons, donated a heavy amount of money to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign. In the wake of Proposition 8's passage, Equality Utah launched what became known as a "Common Ground Initiative," which is more or less a legislative push to work with politicians and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to support a mild range of gay rights bills. This wrongful death bill is one part of that Common Ground Initiative.

Now the bad news.

During hearings on the bill, some crazies came out, including activists with the Eagle Forum, the Standard of Liberty Foundation, and Citizens for Families. All of them took turns arguing before the Judiciary Interim Committee, saying that if this bill were to pass, it would put Utah one step closer to gay marriage. Eagle Forum representative Gayle Ruzicka said that this bill "adds up" to measures that could cause Utah courts to allow gay marriage, like they did in California. Standard of Liberty Foundation representative Stephen Graham said that this wrongful death bill was part of a "radical civil rights movement" and "a movement away from God."

But the wingnut of the week award has to go to Valerie Mills of Bountiful's Citizens for Families. Mills argued - and I'm not making this up; hell, James Frey couldn't make this up - that this bill and others like it proposed by Equality Utah amount to a "collapse of traditional marriage," which leads to higher rates of childhood obesity and anxiety.

Now, us LGBT folk have been blamed for a lot of things over the course of history, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time someone has blamed us for childhood obesity. Thankfully, after Mills' ridiculous comment, state legislator Jackie Biskupski declared the hearings "out of control." Even Republican State Senator Greg Bell, who has proudly identified himself as a culture warrior, said that these wingnuts went too far. "This does nothing to undermine traditional marriage," Bell said, before voting to advance the measure.

So unlucky for Mills, and the folks with the Eagle Forum and the Standard of Liberty Foundation, the bill eventually cleared the committee 11-4. It becomes the first part of the Common Ground Initiative, and pushes the dialogue forward between Equality Utah, state legislators, and members of the Mormon Church in Utah.