Herbert meets with gay-rights advocates

Gov. Gary Herbert met Tuesday with gay-rights advocates for the first time since he opposed making it illegal to discriminate against Utahns based on their sexual orientation.

Herbert apparently didn't change his mind after his separate sit-downs with members of Equality Utah and the Foundation for Reconciliation, but he agreed to continue talking about the issues that face the state's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents.

"Rather than arriving at any policy decisions today, the governor's interest was in simply beginning this important conversation," the governor's spokeswoman, Angie Welling, said, describing Herbert as "there to 'listen and learn' and to work with them to find solutions to those problems."

Welling said no further meetings with the groups are scheduled, though Herbert told them "his door is always open, and he looks forward to additional discussions on these issues, which include nondiscrimination policies and other issues facing this particular population."

That offer "extends to people on all sides of the matter," Welling said.

Participants in the meetings expressed optimism.

"It was really just an introductory meeting," said Will Carlson, Equality Utah's public policy director. "Our primary goal was starting a dialogue. That was a success."

Carlson and three members of the Equality Utah Board attended the meeting with the governor, along with Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, one of three openly gay members of the Utah Legislature.

Carlson said the two parties discussed the number of openly gay people in Utah, which Equality Utah estimates at 53,000, and the need for anti-discrimination policies.

Equality Utah had developed a good relationship with former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who eventually expressed support for civil unions and Equality Utah's Common Ground Initiative.

"We had a lot of good meetings with Gov. Huntsman, and our first meeting didn't look anything like our last," Carlson said. "Our fist meeting with Gov. Herbert was good. So I'm optimistic."

Peter Danzig, a spokesman for the Foundation for Reconciliation, said his group asked the governor to establish a nonpartisan task force to assess the level of discrimination against the state's LGBT community.