Tear down this wall
Mr. Waddoups, tear down this wall.
Please do not misinterpret. In using the same language Ronald Reagan used to encourage Mikhail Gorbachev to bring down the Berlin Wall, I by no means intend to imply, Senator Waddoups, that you are an “evil” leader, as some might have considered Gorbachev. Quite the contrary, I appeal to the fact that in the case of the Berlin Wall, Gorbachev performed nobly and promoted a change for the better.
A similar opportunity is now before you, the president of the Utah State Senate.
By referencing the Berlin Wall, I use it metaphorically for the Utah Legislature’s consideration of nondiscrimination legislation. The divisive, destructive wall of discrimination in Utah does indeed exist.
Roughly 50 percent of LGBT people surveyed last year in Utah said they had experienced discrimination. One-third said they experienced it weekly or even daily. Given a conservative estimate of 55,000 LGBT people in the state, that would mean more than 25,000 of our fellow Utahns have been discriminated against, some of them on an ongoing basis, and many without recourse or remedy.
The cold statistics are troubling. The real stories behind them are sad. Discrimination hurts everyone — those who experience it; their loved ones; those who commit it; and society.
When I ask you to tear down the wall, I echo your fellow senator, Ben McAdams, the Senate sponsor of the nondiscrimination bill, who recently said to FOX13 News, “It’s time for Utah to adopt this.”
Actually, it is past the time. But we have something now that we didn’t have before — the right climate.
When Reagan issued his challenge to Gorbachev, the two men had created a productive, constructive climate. They had set aside differences, to some degree, to discuss, compromise and even become friends. Their relationship allowed Reagan to make his direct and forceful request, but from a place of mutual respect, not mere rivalry or confrontation.
So, the time is now with regard to nondiscrimination legislation, which faces a much different climate than it did just two years ago.
In 2009-10, the strife between Utah’s LGBT community and perceived anti-LGBT alliances reached fever pitch, having continuously risen during the previous six or seven years. There was unfortunate rhetoric and action from both sides.
The LDS Church cooled things down considerably when it supported Salt Lake City’s nondiscrimination measures, officially calling them “fair and reasonable.”
In the 2010 Legislature, a truce was called when dueling legislation and heated passion led to a moratorium on LGBT-related bills. It was a compromise orchestrated primarily between former Rep. Christine Johnson and yourself, Pres. Waddoups.
Things have improved in the two years since.
Perhaps you, yourself, have changed. Johnson told me a couple of weeks ago, “I can tell you that I know some of those meetings shifted the way Senator Waddoups thinks about LGBT issues.”
I hope that’s true. The fact that you’re encouraging this year’s bill be sent out of the Senate Rules Committee is a sign that it is.
Other things have changed. Statewide nondiscrimination measures are gaining bi-partisan support. House sponsorship of the bill is coming from a Republican, House Rep. Derek Brown, who told The Salt Lake Tribune, “It’s the right thing to do.”
The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, along with a growing number of major business interests, has strongly endorsed it.
Today, 81 percent of Utahns assume discrimination against LGBT people is already illegal, and 73 percent of them agree it should be.
While some claim the law would infringe on religious liberty, the proposed legislation makes allowances for religious and “expressive” institutions. When it comes to individuals, I can think of no legitimate or official religious mandate or doctrine that requires discrimination from the religion’s adherents. Prejudice should not be allowed to masquerade as religion.
Some say nondiscrimination laws should be left to local governments, that each community should decide for itself what’s best for that community. Here, too, proposed legislation would allow governments to decide such things themselves. But more fundamentally and ethically, when is discrimination ever the best thing for a community?
Finally, while some say we don’t need the law because Utah is already accepting, a 50-percent discrimination rate suggests otherwise. And almost 70 percent of Utahns think the state is perceived as unfair, disrespectful and discriminatory toward LGBT people.
Changing that perception, creating an even better climate of acceptance, requires bringing down the wall of discrimination legally, as well as morally.
Gorbachev didn’t build the Berlin Wall, nor did he have unilateral power to tear it down. But he had influence, and he used it to promote human dignity.
President Waddoups, will you support nondiscrimination legislation and use your influence as Senate president to encourage others to do likewise?
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