[... O]n Thursday, Reid quietly said that if he were called on to vote one way or another in his home state of Nevada, he would “follow [his] children and grandchildren” and support legalizing gay marriage in Nevada.
Reid communicated his position without words: He nodded affirmatively in response to a reporter questioning whether he would support a vote in Nevada to recognize homosexual marriages.
The statement expressed by that nod is a significant one for the Senate majority leader, who has often said that he doesn’t object to gay couples marrying or think it’s any of his business whether or not gay couples choose to marry, but has never proactively said he would support their right to do so at the state level if asked to decide.
About time. Thank you, Senator.
It's really amazing to see the winds of change blow in the proper direction... And it's even better to see those winds bringing along our elected officials.
I know this has been tough for Senator Reid. It's been tough trying to balance his faith, his values, and his commitment to the public that elected him. I'm just glad to see his values win the day. Of course, I'm sure it's helped that Nevada voters have also evolved dramatically on this issue over time.
There have been so many interesting Utah stories, especially LGBTQ stories in Utah, this year that it's hard for me to pick just one for Best of 2009. We've seen everything from the "kissing" controversy to the ongoing Prop H8/Mormon saga to the still embarrassing KKKhris Buttars... But for now, I want to remember something that really amazed me in a good way.
So for now, go back to November and check out what I found about a great police officer overcoming major challenges in a town called Bountiful.
....
I found a great story in today's Salt Lake Tribune, one I wish I could read in the paper more often.
As a child, Kerry Bell dreamed of growing up to become a policeman -- both a police officer and a man. Becoming a cop was relatively simple -- Bell joined the Bountiful Police Department 14 years ago. Becoming a man took more time. Born female, Bell came out as transgender about a year and a half ago and started a transition to a new life as a man. He always had felt male, but did not think switching genders was a viable option until he saw transgender people gaining wider acceptance, along with advances in medical technology. Surprisingly, the 42-year-old -- working in what many perceive as a super-macho culture -- says he did not fret about telling the police chief or his co-workers to start referring to him as "he," not "she." "I wasn't worried about coming out at work," says Bell, who has had hormone treatments and surgeries. "I've worked for Bountiful for 14 years. I know everybody I work with." Although some employees have trouble remembering to use masculine pronouns, Bountiful Police Chief Tom Ross says, "everyone's done a great job of accepting Kerry and staying focused on why we're here in the first place." Bell, a corporal and SWAT member, is a "well-rounded police officer," Ross adds. "We're glad that he works here."
As we've talked about before, transgender people still face horrible burdens of discrimination. It's worse here in Nevada where our state anti-discrimination laws don't cover gender identity, and even worse in Utah where their state has no anti-LGBT-inclusive discrimination laws whatsoever. So it's really encouraging to see more LGBT police officers come out in Utah and serve proudly.
And honestly, it's good to see more police departments forge good relationships with the community for a change.
That many LGBT officers now serve openly at several Utah law-enforcement agencies speaks volumes to how far society has progressed, says Salt Lake City Capt. Kyle Jones, a founding member of the [LGBT Public Safety Committee]. "Twenty years ago, they wouldn't have been [welcome]," says Jones, who was inspired to get involved with the LGBT community after his son came out as gay. "The current crop of officers, by and large, don't give it a second thought." Jones, along with other committee members, recruits potential new officers at the annual Utah Pride Festival for the Salt Lake City Police Department. "Our department has tried for years to recruit from the populations that we represent," Jones says. "Anywhere from 8 to 12 percent of [Salt Lake City] is thought to be LGBT so we should have 8 to 12 percent of our cops who are LGBT."
Long before Stonewall, our LGBT community has had a rocky relationship with the cops at best. One need not look further than the recent Fort Worth bar raids and Newport Beach Police homophobia scandal to see that tensions still exist and many queer folk still think they have good reason not to trust the cops.
Hopefully with more LGBT police officers joining the ranks and police departments becoming more accepting of this, the often antagonistic relationship between the police and the community can change. It needs to if our community is to trust the police to be our public servants and keep us safe as well.
This is major news. The Senate Majority Leader, America's highest ranking Mormon elected official, and Nevada's Senior Senator is standing up to LDS church leadership on their involvement in last year's effort to strip millions of LGBT families of their fundamental civil rights.
In a meeting with gay-rights activists last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized the LDS Church for backing a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in California, saying the leaders of his faith should have stayed out of the contentious political fight.
Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, is the highest ranking elected official who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He previously has not commented on the flood of Mormon money and volunteers who helped propel Proposition 8 to victory in November.
But three organizers of the past weekend's National Equality March said Reid brought up the topic during a conversation in his office.
"He said that he thought it was a waste of church resources and good will," said Derek Washington, a Nevadan who worked as the outreach director for the march. "He said he didn't think it was appropriate."
Before I go on, I just want to commend Stonewall Vice-Chair Derek Washington for organizing that meeting and sharing our community's thoughts with Senator Reid.
And while Reid declined to endorse full civil marriage equality, he at least agreed that his church had better things to do than attack California LGBT families... And for that matter, all of Nevada's LGBT families that were married in California last year.
The LDS Church kicked in nearly $190,000 in in-kind contributions to ProtectMarriage.com, the leading pro-Prop. 8 group. In the end, Prop 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote.
Marchers in Sunday's equality rally, which drew tens of thousands to the U.S. Capitol, repeatedly referenced the Prop 8 defeat in signs, statements and even face paint. But when organizers sat down with Reid, it wasn't a topic they intended to raise. They wanted to thank him for supporting the march and push him on their desire for federal action giving gay Americans the ability to get married, serve openly in the military and fight workplace discrimination.
Reid signed a letter supporting the march and encouraged a sustained lobbying campaign.
In the meeting, those present touched on issues most important to them. Dan Choi, a veteran of the Iraq War, who was booted from the military under the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, thanked Reid for lobbying President Barack Obama on his behalf. Robin McGehee, of California, talked about her own family. Then, McGehee said, Reid brought up his LDS faith and discussed a recent meeting with Mormons in which he criticized the Prop 8 efforts.
"He personally said they needed to be focused on other things," she said, "and he felt it was harmful for the church to focus on such a divisive issue."
While we obviously still have plenty of work to do in convincing Reid to support full equality for LGBT families in all matters, I'm glad to see that he's at least listening to us. And better yet, I'm glad to see him at least pushing for full federal equality and see him show that not all Mormons agree with church leadership that LGBT people don't deserve civil rights.
It's just good to see pushback against LDS leadership reach this high. For Harry Reid to break his silence and condemn their effort to funnel money to anti-equality campaigns in California and elsewhere shows that outrage is growing. I just hope this will eventually lead to new leadership that focuses on what most Mormons would actually want their church to do. After all, when did Jesus ever preach hatred?
H/T to Chino Blanco for discovering this. And to think, the LDS Church is just one of many religious right groups jumping into politics (legally?) to take away other people's civil rights. Shouldn't they be asking what Jesus would do?
