A Call to Action to Secure Equality Under the Law for the Gay Community

Friends and families, gay and straight, Mormon and not...I admire and applaud your passion for justice here today. Your presence here signals that our great country is not a uniform sea of discrimination, but a land with people that respect human dignity and affirm the rightful place of justice in our society.

We are all here today because we accept that our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, and our great country are not living up to their promise of liberty and justice for all. In light of a historic victory this week for the United States and the world, we stand in the shadow of discriminatory initiatives in three states, the most painful of which is Proposition 8 in California, because, as you all know, this wonderful church here before us played a role in denying fundamental rights to an entire group of law-abiding people in a state hundreds of miles away. Whether you stand here today out of hurt or you do so out of the conviction that these wrongs must be righted, have the courage to know that we WILL SECURE THESE FREEDOMS FOR ALL OUR PEOPLE.

The fight for the rights of gay Americans is more than just THE seminal social justice issue of our time: it is also one of immediate concern; of unparalleled gravity; of continued stress and strife for an entire group of people; and deserving of our urgency and talents as individuals seeking to improve as many people's lives as possible.

I believe in strong families, and safe and nurturing communities. I don't know anyone, gay or straight, that disagrees with that. People should be able to build strong families. They should be able to secure the means to provide a safe, healthy environment for their children. Communities should have the supports--in the form of excellent schools, caring leadership, and infrastructural resources--that reinforce bright futures for our youth. And no one should have the latitude to deny communities and families these tools, because doing so hits society where it hurts the most: our children.

Denying equal rights to same-sex couples and gay individuals does more than just violate my worldview. It delays the large-scale, long-term progress of our communities and, by extension, our nation and world. Fifty years from now, people may still disagree about the moral standing of homosexuality, but surely we can, and MUST, agree--now--that equality under the law must be extended to all law-abiding citizens, and that every responsible adult, gay or straight, has the right to raise children, to build strong families, to be a part of the safe and nurturing communities we all want for our kids.

So I present to you a vision:

We live in what is now, after this week's great Election, the third reddest state in the country. We live in the great state of Utah, and we are about to embark on a journey--right here--to help secure equal legal rights for same-sex couples and gay individuals. And if we succeed here...we can succeed everywhere.

We are going to reach out to local GLBT organizations and gifted volunteers in the gay and straight Utah community, and found a campaign that will unify people--gay and straight, Mormon and not--around the cause that protecting the rights of all Utahns builds stronger communities for all of us, and that even if we disagree with the lifestyle choices or sexual orientation of others, we cannot, on that basis, deny them any of the political fruits of living in the United States of America or the great state of Utah.

You might be wondering what it will take to get there.

We--and make no mistake, when I say we, I mean all of us committed to this cause, regardless of our own backgrounds--we must target apathy and prejudice in those that would seek to stop us from securing equal rights for our gay neighbors, friends, families, or strangers...but we must do so in a way that honors the same spirit of cooperation and acceptance that defines our movement for equality under the law. We must forgo the path of retribution, and instead embrace at every step of the way a stubborn understanding that to be victorious, to get our message across and get our legislative ideas in action, we need every single Utahn by our side, even the ones that misunderstand us, fear us, deplore us, or disagree with us. By organizing with a focus, with message discipline, with leadership and with the integrity to see this thing through to the very end, we will be able to sway people's hearts, and where we can't sway their hearts, than we must do everything in our power to convince their minds:

We can show our churches and church leaders that they have in their ranks highly devoted and doting parents with gay children, and that those children deserve the same privileges and protections that our straight children receive.

We can show our extended friends and families in Utah that Utahns and members of the LDS community, too, have been persecuted, simply because of their beliefs.

We can show our small business owners that they benefit from an industrious, well-educated workforce, and that securing equal rights for their gay employees brings them the stability and promotes the industriousness and innovation that pays great dividends in the workplace.

We can show our city courts that although churches play a valuable role in the spiritual integrity of our society, no church should ever promote public policy or use its influence to manipulate political outcomes, because doing so is unethical and, more importantly to the courts, against the law.

We can show our colleges and universities that when gay students feel safe in the academic community, they not only fulfill their personal academic potentials, but also stimulate the holistic and inclusive atmosphere of knowledge that makes strides in learning possible for all college students.

And in doing so, we can make advocates out of individuals and institutions that may not be emotionally invested in our rights but accept that only by affirming those rights can their interests and our society move forward.

I know I am not the only one with this dream. Join me in forming a campaign for human progress here in Utah. Let's fight together. Let's fight for the day when no one will ask you if you are gay or straight, because the answer won't make a difference in how they see you. Let's fight for the day when, if a gay son or daughter or niece or nephew or grandchild is born into your family, they will not be persecuted, and you will not have to fight for their rights, because we fought today for the day when we can cry and celebrate together as so many of us did this past Tuesday night, knowing that an important milestone in human history had passed--and that we were a part of it.

Be a part of this dream with me.

campaignforhumanprogress@gmail.com