Lds Church's Support Of Anti-discrimination Ordinance Surprises Many
The Salt Lake City council met on Tuesday night
, November 10, to vote on an ordinance that will prevent employers and landlords from discriminating against gays and lesbians solely based on their sexual orientation. With the voiced support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the ordinance was unanimously passed.For some, the LDS Church's public support of this anti-discrimination ordinance came as a surprise. The church's strong support of last year's Proposition 8 in California, which banned same-sex marriage in the state, led many to believe that the LDS Church would not support a motion protecting the rights to fair and equal treatment of gays.
However, during Tuesday night's meeting, Michael Otterson, the managing director of the LDS Church's public affairs office, said the church supported this ordinance because it was fair and did not violate the church's belief that marriage is defined as an institution between a man and a woman. Otterson said, "The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage."
In fact, the church's support of the ordinance affirms what the church proclaimed a year ago amid the Prop 8 controversy. The church stated that it supports the fair and equal treatment of gays and lesbians in regards to medical care, housing, employment, and probate rights, as long as they do not inhibit the rights of churches to practice religion free from government interference.
A day after the ordinance passed, strong conservatives voiced a desire to encourage lawmakers to overturn the motion. Representatives of the LDS Church were not among this group. Rather, members of the Sutherland Institute--a conservative, non-profit, state-based public policy group--were the most vocal supporters of overturning the ordinance. Representatives from the institute argued that the ordinance will do more to open the door of threatening traditional marriage than it will to protect the common-sense rights of gays.
Although lawmakers do have the power to overturn the ordinance, there has been no word that they are thinking of doing so, and after the unanimous passing of the ordinance, overturning the motion seems unlikely.
And while the LDS Church's support of the ordinance is consistent with its prior public statements, some city residents believe that the church's support of gays' rights may mark a shift in the church's stance toward gay marriage. Otterson strongly rebutted such a claim as he reaffirmed, "The church remains unequivocally committed to defending the bedrock foundation of marriage between a man and a woman."
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