At least one bill targeting gay-straight alliances in Utah public schools is expected to reappear in the 2007 Legislature.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who carried a bill last year, says another clubs bill will appear and, from his perspective, be "pretty much the same."

Meanwhile, Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, also says he's working on a bill that would be similar to the legislation he carried last year.

It was not immediately clear whether the two would work together.

"There will be a bill run," Tilton said. "It's likely I will be the House sponsor."

Utah Pride Center executive director Valerie Larabee says the bills attack gay students but also could open a dialogue about the difficulties gay students may face in Utah public schools.

"Teachers, administrators and counselors are dealing with a lot of different youth," Larabee said. "In my view, there is a lack of understanding about the different populations they serve. Because of that, the school environment is not safe for many youths."

Tilton's bill last year sought to warn parents that certain clubs could, if state law is violated, expose students to concepts including homosexual, heterosexual, transgender and transsexual themes, adult sexual molestation and abuse. A House committee debate centered on gay-straight alliances, of which there were believed to be 14 in Utah public schools.

Buttars' bill had attempted to let school boards deny club status to gay-straight alliances or others to "protect the physical, emotional, psychological or moral well-being of students and faculty" and other provisions.

The clubs issue is touchy in Utah. In the mid-1990s, Salt Lake City School District banned all student clubs after a petition to form a gay-straight alliance at East High. It went through a federal lawsuit and ended up reinstating clubs before the dust settled years later.

Federal law requires school boards to allow gay-straight alliances if they're going to open the doors to other non-curriculum clubs.

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