Support LGBTQ+ Pride & Equality; Reject Hate via Discriminatory Legislation

I strongly support LGBTQ+ pride celebrations and equality for all Utahns, and denounce Representative Trevor Lee's statements and threatened legislation against the Utah Mammoth and Jazz's Pride Month recognition (KSL.com, June 2, 2024). His threat is a troubling abuse of power, attempting to use the state to dictate beliefs and suppress the LGBTQ+ community. Characterizing Pride acknowledgments as needing legislative suppression is an attack, using government to intimidate and silence. This rhetoric is divisive, fosters intolerance, and approaches hate speech.   History, particularly the Civil Rights movement, shows the danger of unchallenged hateful beliefs and discrimination. Prejudices against Black Americans were once law, justified by ideologies of superiority, leading to segregation and violence. Beliefs like opposition to interracial marriage or ideas of racial inferiority, once mainstream, are now rightly seen as morally reprehensible and harmful. Landmark Civil Rights legislation, hard-won against fierce opposition rooted in similar exclusionary arguments, began to dismantle these structures.     Arguments marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community today echo that shameful past. The fight for LGBTQ+ equality, like the Civil Rights movement's fight against "separate but equal," is for the human right to live with dignity, free from discrimination. Suggesting Pride needs legislative "rectification" aligns with past defenses of segregation and intolerance, placing one on the wrong side of history. Past hateful beliefs are unacceptable now because we understand their profound harm to individuals, families, and communities. They deny fundamental worth, limit potential, and foster fear and division over compassion.   Representative Lee's threats harm LGBTQ+ individuals and all who value an inclusive Utah, undermining liberty by using legislative power to punish diversity. I urge you to stand against this divisive rhetoric. Publicly affirm support for LGBTQ+ Utahns' rights to live and celebrate safely. Reject any discriminatory legislation. Government must protect citizens, not impose beliefs or persecute minorities. Let us learn from Civil Rights history to champion equality, diversity, and respect in Utah.