Utahns back anti-bias laws in jobs, housing, poll finds

Copyright 2009 Deseret News

After the Salt Lake City Council, with support of LDS Church leaders, recently passed an anti-discrimination ordinance for gays and lesbians in housing and employment, a new public opinion poll finds that 69 percent of Utahns believe the Legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert should do likewise, giving gay Utahns protection statewide.

"This is so exciting," says state Rep. Chris Johnson, D-Salt Lake, when informed of the results of a new survey conducted for the Deseret News and KSL-TV by Dan Jones & Associates.

Johnson has run similar anti-discrimination bills before (without success) and plans on running such a bill again in the 2010 Legislature, which convenes Jan. 25.

Johnson said she hopes to get some leading GOP lawmakers to co-sponsor her bill, but it's still unclear if the majority Republicans in the Utah House and Senate will go along with such a measure.

In fact, several conservative legislators say they believe a bill will be introduced that would actually outlaw the Salt Lake City ordinance and thus prevent any other local governments from adopting similar laws.

Herbert himself is non-committal on 2010 legislative action. His spokeswoman, Angie Welling, said the governor is opposed to discrimination against any group of individuals in the areas of employment and housing. Herbert also continues to support the right of local governments to pass ordinances that represent the needs and desires of their individual constituencies and would prefer that Utah's local governments act independently on this matter as they see fit, Welling said.

Several GOP legislative leaders say it's best to leave gay discrimination in housing and employment alone in the 2010 session, instead waiting to see if other local governments will take up the cause, as Salt Lake City has done.

Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, is one conservative who cautions restraint, although he has moved away from saying the Legislature should outlaw Salt Lake City-type ordinances.

"For now, it is wise of the Legislature not to rush to any sort of judgment on either repealing or passing statewide expansions" in gay anti-discrimination laws, he said.

Wimmer said he worries that the city's ordinance or a Johnson bill would not "adequately protect" private property owners' rights or local businessmen's concerns.