Robert Foster Bennett was an American politician and businessman who served as a United States Senator from Utah from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Bennett held chairmanships and senior positions on various key Senate committees, including the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; Appropriations Committee; Rules and Administration Committee; Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and Joint Economic Committee.
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 Utah's anti-sodomy law was invalidated in 2003 by Lawrence v. Texas, and fully repealed by the state legislature in 2019.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.
D. Chris Buttars was an American politician who served in the Utah State Senate representing the 10th Utah Senate District. He began his service as a state senator in 2001 and resigned in 2011 citing health problems.
Stephen Harold Urquhart is an American politician and religious leader from Utah. A Republican, he was a member of the Utah State Senate, representing the State's 29th Senate district in Washington County from 2009 to 2016, and he served in the Utah House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009.
Scott Milne Matheson Jr. is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has served on that court since 2010.
The 2nd Utah Senate District is located in Salt Lake County, Utah and includes Utah House Districts 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 33 and 35. The previous State Senator representing the 2nd district was Derek Kitchen. Kitchen was elected to the Utah Senate in 2018 to replace Jim Dabakis.
Christine A. Johnson is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Utah House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010.
Luz Robles Escamilla is the Senator for the Utah State Senate's 10th District. Prior to redistricting she represented the 1st District, defeating Republican Carlton Christensen for the seat November 4, 2008 after having beaten incumbent Sen. Fred Fife for the party nomination earlier that year.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Utah since October 6, 2014. On December 20, 2013, the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as a result of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah's ruling in the case of Kitchen v. Herbert, which found that barring same-sex couples from marrying violates the U.S. Constitution. The issuance of those licenses was halted during the period of January 6, 2014 until October 6, 2014, following the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. On that day, following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal in a case that found Utah's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the state to recognize same-sex marriage.
Warren E. Limmer is a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represents the 37th District, which includes portions of Hennepin County in the northwestern Twin Cities metropolitan area. Limmer previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and in 1998 he sought the Republican endorsement for Minnesota Secretary of State, losing to Mary Kiffmeyer. He was the author of the 2012 Minnesota constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Michael Shumway Lee is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019 and dean of Utah's congressional delegation in 2021.
Benjamin Michael McAdams is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. He was the only Democratic member of Utah's congressional delegation, and a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. From 2013 to 2019, he served as mayor of Salt Lake County, and from 2009 to 2012, he was the Utah state senator from the 2nd district, which includes Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, and a portion of West Valley. McAdams was elected to Congress in 2018, narrowly defeating two-term Republican incumbent Mia Love. In 2020, McAdams ran for reelection, but he lost to Republican challenger Burgess Owens. He is the most recent Democrat to represent Utah in Congress.
The Marriage Equality Act is a 2011 landmark New York State law that made same-sex marriage legal. The bill was introduced in the New York State Assembly by Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell and in the New York State Senate by Senator Thomas Duane. It was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 24, 2011 and took effect on July 24, 2011.
Aaron Virl Osmond is a former Republican member of the Utah Senate, representing the 10th district. He resigned from office December 5, 2015.
Robert James Shelby is an American attorney and judge serving as the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Jim Dabakis is an American politician from Salt Lake City, Utah. While now a Republican for primary voting purposes, he served as a member of the Utah State Senate as a Democrat, where he represented the state's 2nd senate district.
Todd Weiler is a Republican member of the Utah State Senate. He lives in Woods Cross, Utah. Weiler was first appointed to the state Senate in January 2012.
Derek Kitchen is an American politician from Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a former member of the Utah State Senate who represented Utah's 2nd Senate District, and was formerly a Councilmember on the Salt Lake City Council representing Council District 4.
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 first decade of the 2000s, 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.
