Utah Senator Chris Buttars is looking
to sponsor legislation that would limit cities and counties in the
state from enacting gay rights legislation, the Salt
Lake Tribune reported.
Buttars, a fierce opponent of gay
rights, said Thursday he'll consider supporting a
bill modeled after Salt Lake City's recently approved measure that
bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender
identity in the areas of housing and employment. The Mormon
Church surprisingly supported the legislation, which was approved
unanimously.
“Maybe we ought to have a statewide
bill that allows those things,” he said.
But Buttars, who is prominently
featured in the new Reed Cowan documentary 8:The
Mormon Proposition saying gay people are “the meanest
buggers I have ever seen,” is more likely attempting to limit gay
rights in Utah.
“A person has a right to have a house
or a job without worrying about their sexual orientation. Those two
issues, I don't think, are creep,” he said referring to pro-gay
legislative creep.
Buttars, a Republican from West Jordan,
says he wants to prevent local governments from going beyond the
Mormon approved protections for gay people.
He told Salt Lake City's Fox affiliate,
Fox 13: “I meet with the gays here and there and they were in my
house two weeks ago. I don't mind gays, but I don't want them
stuffing it in my throat all the time and especially in my kid's
face.”