Utah proposal prompts harassment, vandalism

SALT LAKE CITY — Cleaning up the “Defense of Marriage” leaflets scattered throughout her yard irritated Lisa Petersen.

But having to explain to her distraught 7-year-old daughter Zoe why a night vandal took the “No on 3” lawn sign and left the mess — scrawling “Save an Ass” on one flier — really irked the Salt Lake City attorney.

“It wasn’t just a political statement. It was something really mean and hurtful that I then had to explain to my little daughter,” Petersen said. “It was pretty awful.”

With the proposed amendment to define traditional marriage on the Nov. 2 ballot in Utah, the perennial petty intrigue of stolen political signs has become something apparently more sinister: harassment and vandalism bordering on hate crimes, according to amendment foes.

Scott McCoy, director of the Don’t Amend Alliance, says Petersen’s late-night visit is not extraordinary. Dozens of signs — from Park City to Price — have been taken out of alliance supporters’ yards. And Don’t Amend’s assistant field director, Lauren Littlefield, said one driver yelled and crudely gestured at her Tuesday morning after seeing the window sticker on her vehicle.

McCoy blames the rhetoric of lawmakers promoting the amendment as the last line of defense of the family during the 2004 Legislature. Legislators, he says, stopped just short of inciting the harassment by casting gays and lesbians as bogeymen.

“What behavior do you expect to result from that kind of demagoguery?” McCoy asked. “The tenor of the debate from the other side is already sinking well below any kind of rational debate about this issue. By targeting the gay and lesbian community and holding them out as horrible people who are trying to destroy the family, they’re sending out a message to the less rational, less reasoned folks on their side that the ends justify the means. It’s a tacit nod to this kind of behavior.”

One of the bill’s sponsors, West Jordan Republican Sen. Chris Buttars, disputes the idea that lawmakers’ anti-gay speeches last March created an environment where supporters now feel free to harass gay and lesbian Utahans and their supporters. He counters that partisans on both sides of the amendment debate have behaved badly. Buttars says gay men yelled at him when he staffed a booth at the State Fair.

Still, Buttars calls Petersen’s experience “terrible.” The 30-odd “Yes on 3” fliers said they were “paid for by The Constitutional Defense of Marriage Alliance” and listed a West Jordan, Utah, post office box. Buttars says he disagrees with harassment and vandalism.

“Shame on whoever did that,” Buttars said. “This shouldn’t be about beating each other up. It should be about the debate. You’ve got to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.”

Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, says Buttars’ immediate tit-for-tat defense reveals many lawmakers’ complacency about gay rights. And the fact that Buttars did not pledge to find the volunteer who dropped the fliers in Petersen’s yard shows a “lack of leadership and integrity” among amendment supporters, she said.

“Within this community, we continue to talk with disrespect of gay and lesbian people. When you do that, you’re breeding this kind of hatred,” Biskupski said. “People don’t know how to differentiate between having an opinion and acting aggressively. It’s like striking a match in an area where you shouldn’t.”

McCoy, who has made his phone number unlisted and lost two lawn signs of his own, hopes the harassment doesn’t descend into violence.

“We’re certainly not going to go around in roving bands beating up married people,” McCoy said. “But I wish I could be as hopeful about the other side.”