Protestors arrested for blockade at Utah State Capitol over LGBT discrimination bill

Written by Michael Flynn,
Photos courtesy of David Newkirk and Joshua Lee

Thirteen people who had gathered at the State Capital building in support of a proposed nondiscrimination bill were arrested sometime around 2 p.m. Monday afternoon and charged with disorderly conduct after their demonstration became disruptive, said Utah Public Safety spokesman Dwayne Baird.

Around 9:30 a.m., a group of approximately 15 protestors gathered at the Capitol and formed a human blockade in front of Governor Gary Herbert’s office, preventing people from entering or leaving the office through the main doorway, which opens into the Capitol rotunda.

“We are here until we get our bill heard or we are forcibly removed,” said Salt Lake gay rights activist Troy Williams, one of the organizers of the protest, at the outset of the demonstration.

By midday, the group had swelled to around 20 protestors, standing with arms interlocked before the door. Williams said he had hope that the legislature would agree to hear debate on SB100, however, he added that he was prepared to face the possibility that he and the other protestors would end up in jail before the day was through.

Williams and the others gathered at the Capitol were protesting a recent decision reached by Republican leaders in the Utah Legislature to shelve SB100, a proposed bill that would prohibit housing and workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender people.

“We are not going to leave until we get a firm commitment that it will happen,” Williams said.

Earlier in the day, the Utah Highway Patrol, which is the standing security force at the State Capitol, said the protestors weren’t causing any major problems.

“They’re just a peaceful protest group,” said Sgt. Todd Royce, public affairs officer for the UHP.  “We are just monitoring things right now.”

However, when the protestors decided to move their blockade from the governor’s doorway to the entrance of the legislative committee room, the situation became tense. The committee room is where each house decides which bills will continue to the floor to be voted on and which will be “shelved,” or ignored, by lawmakers for the rest of the session.

“They were blocking access to public meetings at the capitol. They were blocking up the committee room access,” Baird said. “Legislators tried to work with them. Our UHP personnel up on the hill tried to work with them.”

“If you start blocking access to a hearing, where legislators can’t get into a hearing, that’s disorderly,” he added.

“We are simply demanding that SB100 have a fair hearing,” said Williams.

“Seventy-two-percent of Utahns support statewide nondiscrimination for LGBT Utahns for housing and workplaces,” he added, referring to a recent poll conducted by KSL and Deseret News showing overwhelming statewide support for the proposed nondiscrimination law.

“What we want to know,” Williams said, “is why it is that 72 percent of Utah voices are not being heard.”