 | |
 | |
| Founded | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit 501(c)(3) |
| Location | |
Area served | Utah |
Key people | Troy Williams (Executive Director) |
| Website | equalityutah.org |
Formerly called | Unity Utah (2001–2004) |
Equality Utah is an American non-profit 501(c)(3) organization which is Utah's largest LGBT rights group based in Salt Lake City, Utah. [1] The organization is a member of the Equality Federation. [2] [3]
Equality Utah was founded in 2001 as Unity Utah and took its present name in 2004. [4]
In 2008, Equality Utah's Common Ground Initiative brought the group national attention. [1] During the campaigns for and against California's 2008 Proposition 8, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) made statements that the LDS Church "does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights." [1] In response, on November 10, 2008, Equality Utah proposed a number of bills to the Utah State Legislature affording Utah citizens those rights [5] and asked the LDS Church to "stand by" those statements. On December 23, 2008, Human Rights Campaign representatives delivered twenty-seven-thousand letters asking the LDS Church to support those bills; the LDS Church declined to comment on the matter. [6] [7]
In 2015, Equality Utah supported Utah State Bill 296, which amended the state's Antidiscrimination and Fair Housing Acts to ensure further protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill also provided certain exemptions aimed at protecting religious freedom. SB 296 was passed in March 2015 by a wide margin of votes in the state house and senate. The bill's success was attributed in large part to the official endorsement of the LDS Church. [8] Following the senate's vote on the bill, Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams praised the bill's impact: "This is a stunning, historic day. I couldn't stop crying through it. This says that LGBT Utahns belong in this state. We belong here and we are being woven into the legal fabric of the state.” [9]
In October 2016, Equality Utah and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a lawsuit against the Utah State Board of Education and three local school districts to contest a law prohibiting “advocacy of homosexuality” in schools. [10] (This law and similar laws in other states are often called “No Promo Homo” laws.) The lawsuit was the first of its kind in the United States and was filed on behalf of three Utah students. The plaintiffs argued that the law limited free speech and created a hostile environment for LGBT students. The lawsuit was put on hold to allow the state legislature to consider a bill amending the “No Promo Homo” law, [11] and in 2017, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 196, which removed the language prohibiting advocacy of homosexuality. The passage of Senate Bill 196 made Utah the second state to repeal a No Promo Homo law (the first being California). [12] Equality Utah celebrated the change, saying it sent “a positive message that all students are valued in Utah.”
Equality Utah is connected to two sister organizations: Equality Utah PAC (EUPAC) and Equality Utah Foundation. [13] While Equality Utah focuses its efforts on legislation and lobbying, EUPAC dedicates its energy to endorsing and electing candidates who are supportive of the LGBTQ community. Equality Utah Foundation concentrates on educating people to participate in the political process.
In 2016 and 2017, Equality Utah partnered with Wellstone Action, a grassroots progressive advocacy organization, to train potential political candidates for the campaign trail. [14] [15]
As teen suicide has risen in the state of Utah, [16] Equality Utah has focused its efforts on preventing such tragedies. In January 2018, Governor Gary Herbert announced the creation of the Teen Suicide Prevention Task Force. [17] The coalition is made up of elected officials, suicide-prevention experts, and community leaders. Equality Utah is represented on the task force, which has been charged with finding solutions to reduce the number of teen suicides in Utah.
Equality Utah hosts a number of signature events to fundraise and support the local LGBTQ community. Their regular events include:
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to its northeast, Idaho to its north, and Nevada to its west. In comparison to all the U.S. states and territories, Utah, with a population of just over three million, is the 13th largest by area, the 30th most populous, and the 11th least densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two regions: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which includes the state capital, Salt Lake City, and is home to roughly two-thirds of the population; and Washington County in the southwest, which has somewhat more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin.
Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families, & Friends is an international organization for individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex, or same-sex attracted, and their family members, friends, and church leaders who are members or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Utah have significantly evolved in the 21st century. Protective laws have become increasingly enacted since 2014, despite the state's reputation as socially conservative and highly religious. Utah's anti-sodomy law was invalidated in 2003 by Lawrence v. Texas, and fully repealed by the state legislature in 2019. Same-sex marriage has been legal since the state's ban was ruled unconstitutional by federal courts in 2014. In addition, statewide anti-discrimination laws now cover sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing, and the use of conversion therapy on minors is prohibited. In spite of this, there are still a few differences between the treatment of LGBTQ people and the rest of the population, and the rights of transgender youth are restricted.
All homosexual sexual activity is condemned as sinful by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage. Adherents who participate in same-sex sexual behavior may face church discipline. Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions, including those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same-sex marriage and any homosexual sexual activity or sexual relationships outside an opposite-sex marriage. However, all people, including those in same-sex relationships and marriages, are permitted to attend the weekly Sunday meetings.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of New Jersey have the same legal rights as non-LGBTQ people. LGBT individuals in New Jersey enjoy strong protections from discrimination, and have had the same marriage rights as heterosexual people since October 21, 2013.
David Keith Nelson was an American LGBT and gun rights activist. He founded or helped found several LGBT-related nonprofit organizations in Utah and helped direct others. His work with the Democratic Party encouraged many LGBT Utahns to serve as party leaders. His work as a legislative and executive lobbyist accomplished the adoption of several LGBT- and weapon-friendly state and local laws, rules, ordinances and policies, and the rejection of other legislation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Mississippi face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. LGBT rights in Mississippi are limited in comparison to other states. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Mississippi as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas. Same-sex marriage has been recognized since June 2015 in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. State statutes do not address discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; however, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBTQ people is illegal under federal law. The state capital Jackson and a number of other cities provide protections in housing and public accommodations as well.
Mormons Building Bridges is a decentralized grassroots group composed primarily of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who seek to improve the attitudes between members of the LDS Church and the LGBT community.
Spencer James Cox is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 18th governor of Utah since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the eighth lieutenant governor of Utah from 2013 to 2021. In Fairview, Utah, where Cox lives and was raised, he was elected to the city council in 2004 and then as mayor in 2005. In 2008, he was elected as a Sanpete County commissioner.
The Equality Act was a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service. The Supreme Court's June 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County protects gay and transgender people in matters of employment, but not in other respects. The Bostock ruling also covered the Altitude Express and Harris Funeral Homes cases.
Anti-LGBTQ curriculum laws are laws approved by various U.S. states that limit the discussion of sexuality and gender identity in public schools. In theory, these laws mainly apply to sex ed courses, but they can also be applied to other parts of the school curriculum as well as to extracurricular activities such as sports and organizations such as gay–straight alliances. In July 2022, a wave of anti-LGBT curriculum resurgence saw ten such laws beginning to take effect in six different states. Some states enacting these new laws appear to have mirrored similar laws from other states.
Below is a series of timelines of LGBT Mormon history consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of Mormonism's largest denomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings, and to leaders being against same-sex sexual behavior and gender non-conformity. LDS leadership started to more regularly address topics regarding the LGBT community in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
Students identifying as LGBTQIA+ have a long, documented history at Brigham Young University (BYU), and have experienced a range of treatment by other students and school administrators over the decades. Large surveys of over 7,000 BYU students in 2020 and 2017 found that over 13% had marked their sexual orientation as something other than "strictly heterosexual", while the other survey showed that .2% had reported their gender identity as transgender or something other than cisgender male or female. BYU is the largest religious university in North America and is the flagship institution of the educational system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination.
In society at large, LGBT individuals, especially youth, are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Though causes of mental health risk are complex, one often cited reason for these higher risks is minority stress stemming from societal anti-LGBT biases and stigma, rejection, and internalized homophobia.
The Utah Medical Cannabis Act is an initiative to legalize medical cannabis that qualified to appear on the November 2018 ballot in the U.S. state of Utah as Proposition 2.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2020s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Civil rights in the state of Utah are part of United States constitutional law. Rights are granted to individuals are determined on the national level through the 13th and 14th Amendments in the United States Constitution and each state has the power to integrate and enforce laws about civil rights in different ways in their state constitution. Social and religious standards have impacted civil rights in Utah and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a major influence on legislature.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been involved with many pieces of legislation relating to LGBT people and their rights. These include playing an important role in defeating same-sex marriage legalization in Hawaii, Alaska, Nebraska, Nevada, California, and Utah. The topic of same-sex marriage has been one of the church's foremost public concerns since 1993. Leaders have stated that it will become involved in political matters if it perceives that there is a moral issue at stake and wields considerable influence on a national level. Over a dozen members of the US congress had membership in the church in the early 2000s. About 80% of Utah state lawmakers identied as Mormon at that time as well. The church's political involvement around LGBT rights has long been a source of controversy both within and outside the church. It's also been a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2010s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Utah Senate Bill 296 is a law passed by the Utah State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert in 2015. SB 296 amended the 1997 Utah Antidiscrimination Act to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under state law when it comes to housing and employment. The law was described by various news outlets and commentators as the "Utah Compromise".
