Utahns have split opinions on gay rights bill rejection

Utahns are split on the Legislature's rejection of arguably the most comprehensive push for gay rights in the state's history, a new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows.

Forty-eight percent of Utahns opposed the decisions to strike down each of the bills in the Common Ground initiative, while 45 percent supported the actions, according to the survey conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.

The poll of 400 Utahns has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.

Spearheaded by the advocacy group Equality Utah, the Common Ground initiative focused on securing inheritance, hospital visitation, wrongful death, and fair housing and workplace rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns.

With only one Republican vote of support between the four bills, none of the Common Ground bills made it out of committee during the session.

"I think we could have done a better job providing legislators with accurate information," said Equality Utah public policy manager Will Carlson. "There was so much talk about gay marriage and the slippery slope. We tried to make it clear that Utah has already amended its constitution (and banned gay marriage). We could have done a better job communicating that."

In grading the Legislature's handling of those bills, 33 percent of Utahns said lawmakers deserved an A, according to the poll. Eighteen percent said they would give legislators a B.

Carlson said he would be part of the 30 percent of Utahns to give a failing mark.

"I think I'd give them a D," he said. "They did give hearings to these issues and that's important. But they ignored their constituents, and that's a big deal."

Carlson pointed to multiple statewide polls prior to the session, including one by the Deseret News, that showed a majority of Utahns supported expanding gay rights. In January, 53 of those surveyed for a Deseret News poll said gay couples should have death benefits, medical visitation rights and other benefits associated with marriage.

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