Salt Lake City nondiscrimination ordinances go into effect Friday

SALT LAKE CITY — It remains to be seen what kind of impact the city's nondiscrimination ordinances will have on gay and lesbian residents when the protections, the first of their kind passed in Utah, go into effect Friday.

Only time will tell, says Mayor Ralph Becker, who helped push through the housing and employment protections late last year.

But the importance of the ordinances' message is undeniable, advocates say.

In the five months since the Salt Lake City Council approved the protections, similar ordinances have popped up on agendas in Park City, Taylorsville, Holladay, West Valley City, Salt Lake County and Summit County.

"This has been a game changer," said Valerie Larabee, director of the Utah Pride Center. "We do tend to wait for our big brothers to pave the way for us."

A year of discussion and fact-finding by Salt Lake City's Human Rights Commission has provided a template for other municipalities, officials said.

"That was important groundwork," said West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder.

The ordinances also have sparked a conversation about discrimination that has crossed political and religious lines, some officials said.

"I'm a proud Republican and a proud American," said Winder, a first-term mayor who is also Mormon. "When I put my hand over my heart and say 'liberty and justice for all,' I mean what I say. To me, it is consistently philosophical with fulfilling the founders' vision of a nation where people have equal opportunity to make their way in this world. As a Christian, I've been taught to do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

While Salt Lake City's ordinances were approved in November, they take effect Friday. Despite having the support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Becker and the Salt Lake City Council elected to delay the start date until April in deference to the Utah Legislature.

The overwhelmingly conservative Legislature provided some scares for the city's ordinances but eventually left them untouched.

"I've been around the Legislature for a long time, and you never know what will happen until it ends," said Becker, a former state representative.

The city's nondiscrimination changes will establish a process for tenants and employees to file complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation.