Salt Lake City passes gay-rights ordinances with Mormon backing

The City Council has actually had a few people on it that were trying to pass the law for years now and it never stood a shot. The LDS church backs it and it goes right through. No permission was asked for. How many people are going to fight it now? Not many due to the backing of the LDS church. yes it is a shame that a religion has such a strong influence on one state but it does and I think maybe even if it just for this one time that some kudos are deserved for them backing something like this.

seriously. but slc city council is the lone voice of reason in utah. the state legislature is already putting together a rebuttal to take away the city's right to do this.

How is what people do in bed NOT a civil right? Unless someone is killed and as long as there's consent, how can you logically justify discrimination?
You are repeatedly confusing affirmative action and non-discrimination, as well. They are very different things. There's no quota of the number of gays that someone has to hire or allow to live in their premises. But their sexuality can't be a prerequisite for removing them.

As much as the dissenting comments here sound fair (too little too late, to sum it up crudely), I'm glad that this basic tenet has been established, even if it is motivated by money. A step in the right direction should be appreciated, but it's not like the fight for real rights shouldn't go on.

you are a straight-up moron. what someone does in their bedroom becomes a civil right when they are discriminated against for doing it. it's the same thing as someone being black or white.

Not.

That's too bad. I always like to hope that the East Coast is more enlightened than the rest of America but sometimes those hopes get dashed. Hope you have success in your case.

they what those bastereds

...speaking of bigotry....

Nope, it's only a matter of time and the Conservatives know it. As more young people come of voting age and get more involved the tide will turn. These are last ditch desperate efforts to stop something that won't be stopped. Sanctity of marriage? Yeah right.

The mountains are beautiful, the city is clean, but the people there scare the shit out of me. We get a lot defectors here in Western Colorado.

I wonder what set of circumstances led to the creation of this "law" anyway? Were employers and housing denying them solely based on the fact they were gay or did the gay community "perceive" (language from the Hate Crimes legislation) that that was their motive?

ummm...why are you putting law and perceive in parenthesis? Is that your way of winking at us because you can see through all 'this'?

I'm sure that, if there were an *actual* reason for denying the applicant, you wouldn't be prosecuted. What you're describing is one hell of a slippery slope.

You claim to understand non-discrimination, and then go on to lament how your 'right' to discriminate against people is itself discrimination. Those two ideas are mutually exclusive. Either you think non-discrimination laws are a good thing or you don't. Groups that are commonly mistreated by bigots in society for their identity alone should be afforded legal protections so that they can have a place to live and somewhere to work based on their merits. There's no law saying you have to like them. You just have to live with the fact that people you don't like still have a right to live. Get over it.

Yup, it is going to be a slippery slope. And reverse discrimination is alive and well. What say you about affirmative action? Isn't that discriminating against white males? A "law" to protect and equalize is exclusionary?

Seriously? You are trotting out the 'white males' and affirmative action? Yeah, white males have it so hard in our society. Terrible when THEY are discriminated against!

As i said, reverse discrimination is real and I sense a bit of prejudice in your post.

pretty eye makeup

Thank you Colbert Bump!

Haha. I must've missed that episode. Comedy.

haha, awesome

LOL

For one they are not polygamists or a cult so they are definitely not a polygamist cult. Secondly like all religious institutions the LDS church has taken a stance on gay marriage unlike most other religious institutions they have backed civil unions and now have backed ordinances that protect housing and employment rights. Do I particularly agree with all of their past decisions no, but do I think you completely understand the decisions that they have made.... no, so I would say before spewing hate.... learn a little about their beliefs and their stances.

Why the hell should we spend time learning about 'their beliefs and stances'? That's like saying you can't speak against Islam because we haven't studied their doctrine! H3ADLINE made perfect sense. Mormonism is a cult that practiced polygamy for a long time, and would be still be doing so if they could get away with it. Personally I think all religions are based on nonsensical beliefs, but Mormonism has to be right at the top of the list of weird faiths. And this plays into the fact that this religion has the audacity to judge anyone else's lifestyle.

Knowing a bit more about something makes for a better discussion.

your ignorance is appalling.
no you certainly don't need to know everything in the world about the LDS church to judge them, but your half-brain comment really shows that you know nothing about it. It's like me judging you, hpseaton, by your video game picture and saying that your never graduated high school, still live with your parents, on the track of never getting married, and are a good 150 pounds over weight.
probably not true, huh?
"this plays into the fact that this religion has the audacity to judge anyone else's lifestyle."
sounds like you have the same amount of audacity to judge peoples lifestyle and religious beliefs.

Headline. Something tells me you've never been to Utah and that you've never met a real member of the LDS church.

I think i just caught you saying you don't have to know something to judge it
isn't that the same criticism you are making against utah and the mormon culture?
ha
burned
hpseaton

You don't need to be informed to pass judgement? Really? That is our biggest problem in the world because without being informed spewing hate and intolerance is easy. If you understand different belief systems whether it is the belief of the LDS church, of atheists, of Muslims, or Born-Again Christians, of Democrats/Republicans, or of people in the LGBT community then you will be less likely to believe the lies and the hateful comments about them, and more likely to understand them. This is not an answer to taxes or to the colbert report research the LDS churches stance on homosexuality you will see before all of this they have recognized it as something that is mostly genetic and have worked hard at still being accepting. Sure they are against marriage but if you knew the basic doctrines of the LDS belief you would understand why.

Apparently some Mormons got their magical underwear in a bunch over my earlier comment, ignoring their cult's own past and my point about it relating to their feigned support for this law. Let me elaborate. The Mormon cult was explicitly polygamist for decades until they had to /publicly/ disavow it to become the state of Utah (what a convenient change of heart). The Mormon cult also banned inter-racial marriages until recently, and only after that was the law of the land. Clearly they have a terrible record on marriage, and it makes their opposition to gay marriage equality all the more hilarious. This is one group that should keep it's mouth shut on the issue, if only because the level of irony is lethal when they talk about marriage being a union between "one man and one woman." Tell that to your cult founder. Now that there are efforts underway to remove the Mormon cults tax exempt status for being a political machine, they've had another equally genuine change of heart. They're trying to assuage the anger of marriage equality activists by throwing them a bone. I'm betting they don't bite.

LOL...ok people, back off. First off I didn't say I didn't know Mormon doctrine, I said you don't need to know it to make a comment. I know my religions/cults quite well, thank you very much. Since this is Current, and we all like to weigh in and give our opinions no matter what our level of subject knowledge is I think you are all being a tad oversensitive.

Since you're all clamoring to know: Yes, I know lots of Mormons. They're in my damn family so please put your pitchforks away. You can blather on all you want about how their 'doctrines' are, but since I find the doctrines idiotic the point is moot, same as I tell the Mormons, or any religious person who weighs in on sexuality, morals, etc.

That's exactly what I suspect is going on here. It's damage control and nothing more. Too bad it's going to backfire for being so obvious

how would they lose their tax exempt status due to this?