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“This baby is black. It's a dark, ugly thing,” From a story in The Salt Lake Tribune February 2008 A Mormon state senator shocked his colleagues and later apologized for comparing a bill he opposed to a black baby, calling it “a dark, ugly thing.” Republican Sen. Chris Buttars' comment came during a debate on SB48, aimed at equalizing school construction funds. Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, called it “the ugly baby bill,” but, as Buttars stood to vote, went further. “This baby is black. It's a dark, ugly thing,” he said. Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said he perceived the statement as offensive and took the issue to Senate leaders. “I felt it needed to be addressed and needed to be addressed promptly,” he said. Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said he was surprised by the comment. “I didn't see it coming,” he said. “I didn't take it as a racist remark, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was inappropriate and a breach of decorum.” Buttars agreed and felt bad about it and asked for a chance to apologize, Valentine said. After senators returned from a 10-minute break, Valentine noted the “breach in decorum,” and gave Buttars the floor. Two years ago, Buttars told public radio station KCPW that the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education was “wrong to begin with.” He called Sen. Scott McCoy “The Gay,” when the Salt Lake City Democrat was appointed to the Legislature. Buttars’ body of legislative work — directed every step along the way by Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka — is equally damning. His most notable accomplishment is protecting Utah from gay marriage; he sponsored both a state law and a constitutional amendment. He was re-elected in 2004 on that record. Emboldened, he took on Gay-Straight Alliances in Utah high schools again and again. He signed on with evangelical evolution doubters in 2006 and sponsored a bill to require teaching “intelligent design” in high school science classes. His colleagues gave it a hearing before letting it die quietly. This year, Buttars has carried on by sponsoring legislation to keep police misconduct files secret, nullify Salt Lake City's domestic-partnership registry and strip Planned Parenthood out of a bill meant to curb growing rates of chlamydia in Utah teens. Two years ago, Buttars told The Salt Lake Tribune he didn't plan to run for a third term in 2008. Instead, he hopes to go on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After using campaign funds to fix his car, he still has $68,000 in political donations he can take with him when he leaves office. |
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