Becker signs gay rights ordinances backed by Mormon church

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker signed a pair of nondiscrimination ordinances, the first of their kind in Utah, to the sound of cameras clicking and applause Tuesday afternoon in the downtown library.

"This is a great moment … in the history of Salt Lake City," Becker told the dozens of people who had gathered to witness the "historic" event. "Part of our success as a community is all of us living together and respecting each other."

The ordinances, which go into effect after the end of the 2010 legislative session, make it illegal for landlords and employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation — a classification not protected under state or federal laws.

Discrimination complaints could result in fines of up to $1,000 under the law.

Businesses with fewer than 15 employees and landlords with three or fewer properties, however, would be exempt.

The ordinances also carry exemptions for religious institutions, which helped land support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage," spokesman Michael Otterson told the Salt Lake City Council last week. "In drafting this ordinance, the city has granted common-sense rights that should be available to everyone, while safeguarding the crucial rights of religious organizations — for example, in their hiring of people whose lives are in harmony with their tenets, or when providing housing for their university students and others that preserve religious requirements."

Some groups, including the conservative Sutherland Institute, have said they believe the ordinances could eventually be used in a challenge of the state's same-sex marriage ban.

City officials and advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, meanwhile, lauded Tuesday's signing.

"These ordinances are principally about human dignity and human rights," said Jon Jepsen, a business owner who serves on the city's Human Rights Commission.

Brandie Balken, executive director of Equality Utah, said education about gay-rights issues had helped shift attitudes around the capital city.

"In many ways," Balken said, "we owe this victory … to the residents of the city for the conversations they're having with their families."

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