More Acceptance of the GLBT Community in Utah??

I found this article today at the Salt Lake Tribune website, since I know there are quite a few lesbians that live or have lived in Utah, I thought you all might find this one interesting.

Poll: Support, acceptance of gays is growing in Utah

by Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune

Most Utahns would be bothered to learn that their own child or grandchild is gay. But, by a large margin, they support protecting gay and transgender people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

That’s according to a poll released Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign, which kicks off a national bus tour in Salt Lake City on Friday to promote civil rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population.

Utahns have warmer feelings toward gay and lesbian people than they do toward President Barack Obama. (Gay and lesbian people received an average 51 points out of 100, and Obama received an average 38 points.)

Seventy percent of respondents said they know someone who is gay or lesbian. And 42 percent said their feelings about LGBT people have become more accepting over the last five to 10 years. (Seven percent said they have become less accepting.) Nearly 70 percent of men and 77 percent of women said they could be close friends with a gay or lesbian person. More than half, 55 percent, said they would be bothered "a great deal" to learn their child or grandchild is gay.

Utahns remain strongly opposed to gay marriage — 63 percent are opposed and 30 percent are in favor. They also are divided over allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children (44 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed).

The issue of anti-gay discrimination has received heightened attention in Utah since 2009, when Salt Lake City approved ordinances that forbid housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity — and won a landmark endorsement from the LDS Church. Another 11 cities and counties adopted similar ordinances the following year. But the Utah Legislature has snubbed attempts to pass a statewide law.

More than three-fourths of Utahns (77 percent) support anti-discrimination protections, the poll found.

"Salt Lake City is a fitting place to kick off this [bus] tour as Utahns believe in fairness but the laws haven’t yet caught up with that reality," HRC President Joe Solmonese said in a statement. Solmonese will be at the Utah Pride Center on Friday to launch the 12-week tour, which mostly will stop at cities in the Midwest and South.

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, commissioned by HRC, surveyed 400 Utah adults between Aug. 2 and 3. The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points

Utah's Delicate Arch serves as site for gay rights rally

Gay-rights activists in Utah will rally at one of the state's important symbols - Delicate Arch.

On Saturday, people plan to gather in view of the treasured redrock formation to rally support for Equality Utah's Common Ground Initiative.

The effort is a collection of five bills, aimed at the upcoming legislative session, that would provide legal protections to same-sex couples, such as hospital visitation and inheritance rights, and forbid discrimination against gay and transgender people in employment and housing.

Delicate Arch is "an important symbol for all Utahns," said organizer Michael Mueller, founder of the Facebook community Utahns for Marriage Equality. "We're all Utahns first - gay, straight, whatever."

Mueller, who is straight and married, said, "There are certain rights that all people should have."

Participants will gather in the Delicate Arch parking lot at Arches National Park near Moab from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and then walk to a viewpoint for a rally.

Speakers will include Salt Lake City Democratic Rep. Christine Johnson, who is sponsoring a Common Ground bill; Claudia Bradshaw, founder of the St. George chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends).

Marriage Equality USA explains the event on its website