About time. You'll recall I wrote about this gentleman this morning. He's a Utah state senator who thinks gays and lesbians are the greatest threat facing mankind. Well, as a result of his bigotry, he just lost two key committee assignments. Of course, the Senate president, a Republican, then totally undercut the significance of the action by reiterating his agreement with "many" of the horrible things the bigoted senator said:
"I want the citizens of Utah to know that the Utah Senate stands behind Senator Buttars right to speak, we stand behind him as one of our colleagues and his right to serve this state," said Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville. "He is a senator who represents the point of view of many of his constituents and many of ours. We agree with many of the things he said. . . . We stand four square behind his right [to say what he wants]."I will say one thing. It's a very interesting day when Mormon Republicans in Utah feel the need to punish a fellow Mormon Republican bigot for being anti-gay. That's progress. It's also yet another sign that the Mormon leadership is not impervious to public pressure. Far from it. They've been in a bit of a panic since their legislative gay-bashing in California back-fired, and exposed some of their more outrageous practices and beliefs to the rest of the country and the world (like their penchant for stealing the souls of dead Jewish Holocaust victims).
