Tag: Utah

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Mitt Romney To Announce Run For US Senate Thursday

Mitt Romney


The Associated Press is reporting Mitt Romney will announce his plans to run for the Utah Senate seat currently held by Sen. Orrin Hatch.

Hatch has previously announced he will not seek reelection.

The 70-year-old Romney, once a harsh critic of President Donald Trump, will release an online video Thursday announcing his Senate bid. His first public appearance as a Senate candidate will come Friday night at a county Republican dinner in Provo.

Those with knowledge of his plans spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Despite a drama-filled history with Trump, Romney is not expected to address the combative president directly in the announcement video. Those close to him say he plans a hyper-local focus on Utah issues throughout the Senate campaign.

His announcement video will suggest that Washington has much to learn from Utah.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and one of the most famous Mormons, is widely liked and respected in Utah, which is heavily Mormon.

Romney is considered a shoe-in for the Senate seat.

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News Round-Up: March 9, 2017

Caleb Reynolds of Survivor

Some news items you may have missed:

• Yes, the new season of CBS’ Survivor began last night. And yes, I watched (big fan). And yes, I have a favorite – the hunky Caleb (above). #woof #TeamCaleb

• Even though the Congressional Budget Office has yet to return a report on the newly introduced American Health Care Act, meant to replace the Affordable Care Act, the two House committees designated to debate and markup the legislation have already approved the legislation to the full House. For comparison, Obamacare took six months from introduction to signing into law.

• Boston’s Mayor Walsh has announced he will not march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in light of parade organizers booting LGBT veterans group OutVets from the parade after allowing the organization to march the past two years.

• Utah lawmakers have passed legislation that would repeal the state’s “no homo promo” law. All eyes on Gov. Gary Herbert to see if he signs the bill. Stay tuned.

• Despite the howls of conservatives over a rumored “gay” storyline in the upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, film industry insiders are predicting the flick will break March box office records.

• Watch below as Congresswoman Maxine Waters tells MSNBC that the unverified allegations of compromising video footage of President Trump with Russian prostitutes are “absolutely true.”

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Utah House Committee Advances Bill To Criminalize Non-Disclosure Of HIV+ Status

By a vote of 9-2, the Utah state House Judiciary Committee has approved new legislation that would require folks to disclose HIV/AIDS status or face criminal penalties.

By a vote of 9-2, the Utah state House Judiciary Committee has approved new legislation that would require folks to disclose HIV/AIDS status or face criminal penalties.

House Bill 369 now heads to the full House for debate.

LGBT advocates and AIDS support groups worry that such legislation could discourage people from getting tested for HIV. Executive director of the LGBT rights group Equality Utah, Troy Williams worries that enacting statutes like HB369 were “starting down a path toward criminalizing people with HIV.”

But Republicans on the committee say there’s no reason status shouldn’t be disclosed by consenting adults. “To knowingly put another person at risk of harm to their body,” Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, said. “Why should that not be a crime?”

At one point, a proposal was put forth that would include disclosing any sexually transmitted disease, but that amendment failed.

(source)

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News Round-Up: October 22, 2016

Some news stories you may have missed:

• This Is Us star (formerly of Smallville) Justin Hartley gets wet and wild for a good cause on ELLEN.

• Log Cabin Republicans vote to withhold endorsing Donald Trump for president. What a bold decision two weeks before the election.

• Utah activists sue the state over laws which ban any positive discussion of LGBTs in public schools.

• Donald Trump says he plans to sue all the women who have accused him of sexual assault after the election.

• In case you’re wondering, here’s Nate Silver’s latest numbers crunching of the presidential election.

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Utah Juvenile Court Judge Reconsiders Ruling Against Lesbian Foster Parents

(photo: Steve Griffin – Salt Lake Tribune)

It appears the Utah judge who ruled a married lesbian couple could NOT be foster parents to a nine month old baby girl is reconsidering his ruling after national outrage over the case.

Via Salt Lake City Tribune:

Under the order issued earlier this week, 7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen had given state officials until Nov. 17 to remove the child. In his ruling, Johansen said research showed that children do better in homes with heterosexual parents.

On Friday, Johansen scheduled a hearing for Dec. 4 to determine what is in the best interest of the child.

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) on Thursday filed a petition for a stay of the order, while an attorney for the foster parents women — April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce — filed a separate petition asking the judge to reverse his own ruling.

Hoagland and Peirce, who have been married for a year and are licensed foster parents, have cared for the girl since August, as the state has moved through the legal process of terminating the parental rights of the child’s biological mother.

The couple, who are also raising Peirce’s biological children, ages 12 and 14, intend to adopt the girl and have said the child’s mother told Johansen on Tuesday she wants her daughter raised by the couple.

Even conservative Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said the judge had overstepped in his ruling:

“I expect the court and the judge to follow the law. He may not like the law, but he should follow the law. We don’t want to have activism on the bench in any way, shape or form. Laws, sometimes people don’t like, but the judge should not interject his own personal beliefs and feelings and supersede the law.”

The Human Rights Campaign has filed a formal complaint against the judge saying he violated Section 2.3 of the Utah Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

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Utah: Judges Takes Foster Child From Married Lesbian Couple Because They Are Gay

April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce of Carbon County, Utah, were stunned when Judge Scott Johansen ordered they surrender the one year old foster child placed in their care.

The judge said he felt the child would be better off with a heterosexual couple based on “research” he had done. When asked for the source of that research, he refused.

Via the Advocate:

The couple, who legally wed in October 2014, have taken care of the one-year-old girl for three months and her birth mother has asked them to adopt the child. The Utah Division of Child and Family Services has been forced to find new housing for the child, but officials say they will appeal the judge’s decision.

“We love her and she loves us, and we haven’t done anything wrong,” Peirce told The Salt Lake Tribune. “And the law, as I understand it, reads that any legally married couple can foster and adopt.”

Attorneys for DCFS are currently reviewing the decision. “If we feel like [Johansen’s] decision is not best for the child,” DCFS director Brent Platt said, “and we have a recourse to appeal or change it, we’re going to do that. For us, it’s what’s best for the child.”

“Any loving couple if they are legally married, and meet the requirements, we want them to be involved,” he said.

The child’s state-appointed attorney supports the couple. The birth mother’s lawyer, who was in court with the couple when the decision was handed down, has said the mother is upset and wants her baby to stay with the couple.

The Human Rights Campaign issued this statement:

“Removing a child from a loving home simply because the parents are LGBT is outrageous, shocking, and unjust. It also flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that children being raised by same-sex parents are just as healthy and well-adjusted as those with different-sex parents. At a time when so many children in foster care need loving homes, it is sickening to think that a child would be taken from caring parents who planned to adopt.”

Democratic White House front-runner tweeted her support for the couple:

Watch the local CBS affiliate’s report below.

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Utah: Transgender Woman Steps In Front Of Truck After Leaving Suicide Note On Facebook

According to Gay Star News, 26-year-old transgender woman Ashley Hallstrom of Logan, Utah, posted a suicide note on Facebook detailing her journey with depression and ‘lifelong struggle with being transgender,’ left her home, and stepped into traffic where she was killed by a truck this past Wednesday.

It seems the police were alerted to Hallstrom’s note, but were unable to reach her before she made her fatal decision.

This breaks my heart.

You can read Hallstrom’s suicide note below.

“These are going to be my final words. I can’t stand to live another day, so I’m committing suicide. The reason why I’ve decided to do this is because I’m transgender. For those of you that unsure of what that means, it means that even though I was born in a male body, I am and have always been female. I’ve known I was female for as far back as I can remember. This caused me to become severely depressed from a very young age. From a very young age I was told that people like me are freaks and abominations, that we are sick in the head and society hates us. This made me hate who I was. I tried so hard to be just like everyone else but this isn’t something you can change.

It wasn’t until I was 20 that I found out I wasn’t alone. I had hope that I would finally be able to live as and love who I am. I finally came out as transgender and began transitioning. For the first time in my life I could say I was genuinely happy. Despite this huge change in my life I never completely got over the depression being trans caused me. Everywhere I’d turn I’d see the hated that society had for us. I had already been poisoned by a society that didn’t understand us and, even worse, didn’t want to even try. I saw the pain it caused to people like me and going though this same hurt myself it has just become to much for me to take anymore. I wanted so much to help those going though what I had to because nobody should ever have to feel that they hate their life so much that they want to end it all just so they won’t have to experience another moment of this sadness. I’m not the first to feel this way and sadly I know I won’t be the last.

I’m writing all of this because I’ve need my story to be shared. I don’t want to be just another number of a tragic statistic. People need to know that I’m not just another face of someone they never met. I was alive. I have a family and friends that I love very much and I’m so sorry to them for the hurt this will cause them. I loved being around those that I love. I loved listening to music and singing. I loved going out to eat with friends and enjoying good food. I was a real person. I still want to help people and I believe I still can. Please share my final words. I believe my last words can help make the change that society needs to make so that one day there will be no others like me. Please help make this change because trans people are everywhere. You may never know who you’re hurting until it’s too late. Please help fix society.”

It’s important to note that Trans Lifeline, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the well being of transgender people in the US, is available via hotline staffed by transgender people for transgender people. They can be contacted: US: (877) 565-8860, Canada: (877) 330-6366.

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Utah Passes Limited Housing & Employment LGBT Protections

The result of a joint effort by LGBT activists and the Mormon Church, the Utah legislature has passed a bill – SB 296  – which will provide some protections for LGBT folks in the areas of employment and housing.

Last week, Utah’s Senate passed the measure by a vote of 23-5, and last night’s vote in the House was a huge victory at 65-10.

Via Gay Star News:

The so-called ‘Utah compromise’ protects LGBT people when it comes to employment and housing. However, religious organizations are exempt. This means that they could still fire someone for being gay or transgender. If they operate housing schemes – through colleges, charities or other affiliates – they could also deny them accommodation.

Gov. Gary Herbert is expected to sign the bill tonight.

The legislation does not cover goods and services. Another bill, HB322, is headed to the state Senate where it looks to face an uphill battle as it basically outlines a “license to discriminate” that we’ve seen in other states in regard to public accommodations. That bill passed in the House 54-21.

Also, the House voted on SB 297 which would allow employees in county offices to “opt-out” of performing same-sex marriages, but would require that another employee would be available to officiate the wedding. That measure passed also, by a vote of 66-9.

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Utah: State Senate Approves LGBT Protections Bill By A Vote Of 23-5

By a vote of 23-5, Utah’s GOP-controlled state Senate advanced an anti-discrimination bill that would protect LGBT folks regarding housing and employment, but would also allow religious people to express their beliefs. The bill has the support of the Mormon Church.

The legislation now moves to the state House.

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has indicated he will sign the bill should it reach his desk.

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Utah: Mormon Church Offers Support For LGBT Protections – On One Condition

At a press conference held at Mormon Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, members of the Church’s top tier promised to support anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community – with one condition.

For their support of LGBT non-discrimination laws, the Mormon Church wants LGBT activists and the government to back off.

“When religious people are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they have raised their voice in the public square, donated to a cause or participated in an election, our democracy is the loser,” said Elder Dallin Oaks, a member of the church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

“Such tactics are every bit as wrong as denying access to employment, housing or public services because of race or gender.”

The Mormon church is one of several religious groups to complain about religious freedom coming under “attack” in recent years. The Catholic church and Southern Baptists, among other evangelicals, have sounded the alarm as well.

[snip]

“It is one of today’s great ironies that some people who have fought so hard for LGBT rights now try to deny the rights of others to disagree with their public policy proposals,” said Oaks.

While offering this conditional support, the Mormon Church says it will not change it’s position on same-sex marriage.

Openly gay state Sen. Jim Dabakis issued this statement via press release:

“I am proud that the LDS Church has seen fit to lead the way in non-discrimination. As a religious institution, Mormons have had a long history of being the victims of discrimination and persecution. They understand more than most the value and strength of creating a civil society that judges people by the content of their character and their ability to do a job.”

“Since serving as a Senator, and as the only LGBT member of the Utah legislature, I can say one of the joys of the job has been to meet and enjoy the company of LDS officials. I know that together, we can build a community that strongly protects religious organizations constitutional liberties and, in addition, creates a civil, respectful, nurturing culture where differences are honored and everyone feels welcome.”

“Now, lets roll up our sleeves, get to work and pass a statewide Non-Discrimination Bill.”