Hateful comments a powerful state senator made about gays should embarrass all Utahns, said Parkite Mike Tompkins, who is openly gay.
In an interview with a documentary filmmaker in January, Republican Sen. Chris Buttars compared gays to radical Muslims and said the gay-rights movement is “probably the greatest threat to America,” Tompkins said.
“It makes Utah look stupid because it made national news last night,” he added in a telephone interview Friday. “If you go back in history, you see that [Buttars] definitely says a lot of things that, I think, he probably regrets only because he said them, not because he doesn’t mean them.”
Buttars complains often that gay people lack morals. According to the Associated Press, the senator told filmmaker and former KTVX news reporter Reed Cowan that, “It’s just like the Muslims. Muslims are good people and their religion is anti-war. But it’s been taken over by the radical side. And the gays are totally taken over by the radical side.”
Senate leaders stripped Buttars of his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee Friday in response to his comments.
But that was too harsh, said Sen. Allen Christensen, a North Ogden Republican who represents much of eastern Summit County.
“I’m a huge fan of Sen. Buttars. I think he takes a lot of blows for the rest of us. He just likes to say it like he feels, and I think he gets that privilege under the First Amendment,” Christensen said in a telephone interview Friday. “He says things that I wouldn’t dare to say. I might think them, but I wouldn’t dare say them. [Buttars] is just a lot braver than I am.”
Buttars’ remarks are often taken out of context by the media, he added.
“The groups he is opening his mouth against are very organized and very vocal,” Christensen said. “He gets beat up pretty bad for it, particularly for the issues that he is speaking out on.”
Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, a Vernal Republican who represents Park City, said he is satisfied with the response from Senate leaders.
“It’s a free speech issue,” Van Tassell said Friday. “Leadership has responded, and I’m happy with it.”
But Rep. Christine Johnson, an openly gay Salt Lake City Democrat who represents the Snyderville Basin, said Buttars’ reprimand wasn’t strong enough.
“I respect President Waddoups’ authority to make that decision, however, I find it grossly insufficient,” Johnson said in a telephone interview Friday.
Buttars should have also lost his post on the Senate Rules Committee, she said.
“Far more important is the influence he has on the Rules Committee, and the public perception that he may still influence bills in a slanted perspective,” Johnson said.
She said she has not spoken to Buttars about his remarks.
“I have had members of the Senate approach me and apologize for the manner in which Sen. Buttars expressed his opinions,” Johnson said. “I respect his right to free speech, but in his capacity, this is inappropriate.”
Meanwhile, a slew of so-called “Common Ground” bills which this year sought to change state law so employers and landlords could not discriminate against gays in Utah were dismissed in short order by conservative lawmakers.
“I think them all being defeated, very adequately reflects the ideals of Utahns as a whole. The majority of Utahns did not want those bills to go into law,” Christensen said.
But landlords shouldn’t be able to evict tenants just because they’re gay, said Timm Hilty, who owns a Park City art gallery and is openly gay.
“All different kinds of opportunities people get left out of because they’re unmarried or homosexual, and it’s very unfortunate that we live in a society that we’re second-class citizens,” Hilty said Friday. “In Park City, gay people live pretty privileged lives. In Salt Lake, if you are a homosexual, your landlord can make you move without any reason at all.”
Buttars responded to the controversy surrounding his remark on the Senate blog this week.
“I felt it was a friendly interview and we covered a lot of ground,” Buttars wrote about his hour-long discussion with Cowan in January. “[Cowan] told me the interview would be public in about a year and I would be allowed to see his work and approve my part before he released it.”
“I believe traditional marriage is the foundation of our civilization and I’ll continue to support public policy that strengthens traditional marriage. I will continue to oppose policy that undermines that foundation,” Buttars wrote.
Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka defended Buttars in an interview Friday.
“Mr. Buttars did not make those comments on the (Senate) floor,” Ruzicka said. “He made them in the privacy of his own office while being interviewed for a documentary.”
Still, Buttars’ comments hurt families and stripping him of a committee assignment is not punishment enough, said Parkite Bruce Palenske, who is openly gay.
“These elected officials, paid by us, seem to take one step forward and two steps back every year,” Palenske said. “[Buttars] has a history of this type of behavior Demoting him will do nothing. It’s a good old boys club down there, and always will be unless we speak up.”
Buttars made headlines last year when the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called for the senator to resign for referring to a school funding bill as a “black” baby.
“This is a dark, ugly thing,” Buttars said about the legislation at the 2008 general session.