Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and
his wife, Mary Kaye, were honored Thursday by the state's largest
LGBT rights group, Equality Utah.
At the group's 11th annual
Allies Dinner, more than 2,000 people gathered to pay tribute to
Huntsman for his advocacy.
At the event, Huntsman reiterated his
support for civil unions but stopped short of endorsing marriage for
gay and lesbian couples, The
Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“What's important here is people
having the conversation about inclusiveness and about fairness and
about equality under the law,” he said. “It's hard to know what
the wrapping looks like, what the definition and term happens to be,
and each state might end up doing it a little differently, but the
end point ought to be equality under the law.”
Huntsman, who briefly entered the GOP
presidential nominating contest, first announced his support for
civil unions in 2009.
“I did it because I fundamentally
believe that equality is an American value. You take some slings and
arrows, but I think maybe the community, after that, had some
conversations and is still having those conversations. And do you
make progress in terms of including everyone in the fabric of
society? I think so,” he said.