Utah state senator to lose his committee chairmanship after homophobic diatribe.
Utah state senator to lose his committee chairmanship after homophobic diatribe.
Earlier this week, documentary film makers released the audio portion of an interview with Utah state senator Chris Buttars (R), who called gay people “the greatest threat to America going down,” labeled homosexuality “a sexual perversion,” and compared gays to alcoholics. Today, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that Buttars’ Republican colleagues have decided to kick him out of the state senate judiciary committee:
Sources familiar with the Senate discussions, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Senate Republican caucus decided to remove Buttars from the Senate Judiciary Committee, a panel which he currently chairs.
It is unclear how that move would affect his position on another panel, the Judicial Confirmation Committee, which he also chairs and is a member of by virtue of his position on the Judiciary Committee.
Sources say no decision is final until Buttars confers with Senate President Michael Waddoups, who defended Buttars earlier this week. “Issues that are moral for him are things he should stand up for and represent his people. That’s why they elected him. He’s doing his job,” Waddoups said.
UPDATE: In the press conference, Waddoups continued to defend Buttars. “I want the citizens of Utah to know that the Senate stands behind Sen. Buttars and his right to speak, that we stand behind him as colleague and support his right to serve in this state,” Waddoups said. Meanwhile, Buttars refused to apologize for his comments, in a senate blog post:
When it comes right down to it, I would rather be censured for doing what I think is right, than be honored by my colleagues for bowing to the pressure of a special interest group that has been allowed to act with impunity.
Read his full post below:
I was disappointed to learn of the Utah State Senate’s Censure on Feb. 20, 2009. However, this action will not discourage me from defending marriage from an increasingly vocal and radical segment of the homosexual community.
In recent years, registering opposition to the homosexual agenda has become almost impossible. Political correctness has replaced open and energetic debate. Those who dare to disagree with the homosexual agenda are labeled “haters,” and “bigots,” and are censured by their peers. The media contributes to the problem. Increasingly, individuals with conservative beliefs are targeted by a left-leaning media that uses their position of public trust as a bully pulpit. This pattern of intimidation suppresses free speech.
For the record, I do not agree with the censure I see it as an attempt to shy away from controversy. In particular, I disagree with my removal as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, since my work there is entirely unrelated to my opposition to the homosexual agenda.
Still, I’m a grown man and I can take my knocks. When it comes right down to it, I would rather be censured for doing what I think is right, than be honored by my colleagues for bowing to the pressure of a special interest group that has been allowed to act with impunity.
Thanks to the many citizens who have written and called to express their support. Please know that I’ll live through this to fight another day. In years to come, we’ll all look back at this point in history and see it as a crossroads. I have no intention of resigning.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Resign in disgrace, Butt’rs! And should he stay, his words alone should disqualify him from sitting on any committee that deals with “justice”.
PEACE
February 20th, 2009 at 11:28 amGee, and I thought America had been brought down by greedy crooks and warmongers! Boy, was I ever off base.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:30 amYou see…..WORDS DO MATTER!
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!!!
February 20th, 2009 at 11:30 amOur society no longer has room for these hateful, narrow minded, dinosaurs.
Him, and everybody like him, need to be removed from office.
Sooner rather than later.
I’m tired of being told I’m crazy by crazy people.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:34 amOh well,
February 20th, 2009 at 11:36 amApparently homophobes are so shallow in their thinking process that it never occurs to them that their rationale is just plain wrong.
Regardless that he represents ignoramuses who think as he does.
aahhh – the subtle and graceful beauty of Utah politics.
some things just shout “America!” to us all, don’t they?
February 20th, 2009 at 11:37 amAnd Waddoups is the Senate President. When does he resign?
February 20th, 2009 at 11:37 am“the greatest threat to America going down..
I suggest if the wingnut, bigoted right spent more time going down, they wouldn’t be so hate filled, uptight, paranoid, worried about non-existant “threats’, etc..
February 20th, 2009 at 11:40 amAnother one bites the dust. :-)
February 20th, 2009 at 11:44 amCool.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:48 amDump the dinosaurs.
Now that I mention it, he looks like a hadrosaur…
It would be one thing if Buttars had merely said he believed homosexuality was wrong based on his religious beliefs. Or if he said he didn’t support gay marriage. Many conservative politicians have similar beliefs and they don’t get thumped by their own party for expressing those beliefs.
But Buttars seems to be firmly convinced that there is a radical group of gays out there who are determined to eliminate heterosexuality completely and take over the world. This crosses over into the paranoid and the delusional. I’m glad it’s the Republicans who find this thinking to be dangerous for someone in the role of committee chairman.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:49 amSources say no decision is final until Buttars confers with Senate President Michael Waddoups, who defended Buttars earlier this week. “Issues that are moral for him are things he should stand up for and represent his people. That’s why they elected him. He’s doing his job,” Waddoups said.
Representing his people?! Just doing his job?! I think that if Buttars made those comments to the public that voted for him, he would not have been elected.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:49 amlokidog Says:
“the greatest threat to America going down..
I suggest if the wingnut, bigoted right spent more time going down, they wouldn’t be so hate filled, uptight, paranoid, worried about non-existant “threats’, etc..
Oh, I get it now! THAT kind of ‘going down’! Well, that’s a different story! There should be as much of that kind of ‘going down’ as possible! It would be very stress-reducing and really help people get closer.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:51 amav – don’t misunderestimate the Utahns. they may have put Buttars in office precisely because he said such things. Outside of SLC, Utah is a place where superstition and delusion are the prime directives.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:52 amchris buttars.
the man in the stall
next to larry craig.
*
it’s only a matter of time.
:)
February 20th, 2009 at 11:52 amI’m wondering if at some point in his life, Mr Buttars got drunk and woke up in the “wrong” bed?
February 20th, 2009 at 11:56 ammethinks he doth protest too much
February 20th, 2009 at 11:57 amSenate Republican caucus decided to remove Buttars from the Senate Judiciary Committee, a panel which he currently chairs.
Now THAT’S justice. This report does not indicate that anyone is driving Buttars out of office and if he resigns it will be his choice (or was he born that way? – a “my way or the highway man”).
February 20th, 2009 at 11:58 amGet real, Buttars (& Waddoups).
February 20th, 2009 at 11:59 amHe’ll soon retire to start his own enclave in the Arizona Strip, where he can mine uranium and have a really large family.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:02 pmI still say that a lot of this hatred comes from the inability to express their own sexuality…
February 20th, 2009 at 12:02 pmtake another look at that pic folks
buttars ain’t gettin any from anyone, preferences notwithstanding
with repression comes anger – see “victorian period”
February 20th, 2009 at 12:03 pmWhah oar ewe libruls so untolerants?
Ah em sher Mr Buttars wuz jis representin his peeps.
An’ e’rybuddy know, they ain’t no homos in Utah, so no har mno foul, raht?
February 20th, 2009 at 12:06 pmPhilbeee! Ewer Back!
O tiny joy!
February 20th, 2009 at 12:07 pmButtars Waddoups?
Man, you can’t make this stuff up.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:08 pmPillsbury – I am tickled pink – happy as a moonclam – and it’s your anger taking me there, so keep it coming.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:08 pmMr. Philby… got something to add to the conversation?
February 20th, 2009 at 12:09 pmMr. Philby Says:
“with repression comes anger”
What’s your excuse?
Uh oh tombaker – it appears that you may have hit a nerve…or something.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:09 pmI just want to rile him up so he’ll make out with me.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:10 pmI actually think Mr. Philby is another repressed individual who hasn’t come to terms with those confusing feelings he has.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:10 pmtombaker Says:
I just want to rile him up so he’ll make out with me.
His name is kinda cute. Sounds like the sort of fellow who wears bowler hats.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:13 pmCaption:
And Larry Craig thinks his stance is wider than mine… harumph!
February 20th, 2009 at 12:17 pmAccording to Wikpedia: “He was director of the controversial Utah Boys Ranch, now known as West Ridge Academy, a Mormon reeducation camp for boys [1][2][3] in West Jordan, for 15 years before being forced[4] into retirement in 2004.”
February 20th, 2009 at 12:17 pmThe footnotes relate to illegal discipline, among other things.
Mr. Philby Says:
“with repression comes anger”
What’s your excuse?
*
peanuts with salmonella.
want some?
*
*
February 20th, 2009 at 12:17 pmMr. Buttars was quoted as saying: “Oh HAMBURGERS!”
February 20th, 2009 at 12:17 pmexactly Mary – he’s one of those Hugh Grant types – placid and proper on the outside – raging lust-bull on the inside.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:18 pmMr. Philby Says:
“with repression comes anger”
What’s your excuse?
We’re sad to see you so unhappy and repressed, Mr. Philby…
February 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pmRoket Says:
Get real, Buttars (& Waddoups).
*
buttars & waddoups…
weren’t they “the pet shop boys”?
()
February 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pmwham
February 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pmmary says….
Yes, mary, THAT kind…..hehehe.
Heck, just might make things more peaceful in the Middle East, too!
February 20th, 2009 at 12:23 pmThis bigot should move to Oklahoma if he wants to act like that and still get voted into office.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pmtombaker Says:
wham
*
you’re right,
who can forget “pop goes my heart“?
(that’s buttars on the keyboards).
*
and mr. p was the drummer,
i think.
)(
February 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pmAs mary earlier state, “going down” is necessarily a bad thing.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pmIn fact, I’m pretty sure we’d have a lot less anger and violence.
What, with all the men needing naps!
What a shock, yet another clueless, ignorant and hateful Republican relic.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pmdammit.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:32 pmis NOT necessarily a bad thing!
Buttars is not only homophobic, he is an out and out racist.
Michael Waddoups is another piece of work who has hijacked the Utah Legislature for his own “moral” concerns:
1. Wants scanners in bars to scan patrons’ drivers licenses and keep in a law enforcement database: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11612979?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com
2. Wants alcohol in restaurants kept behind some kind of barrier so other restaurant patrons won’t be exposed to the frightening sight of other people actually drinking alcohol.
Is it any wonder we “gentiles” in Utah call living here life behind the zion curtain?
February 20th, 2009 at 12:34 pm“What, with all the men needing naps!”
And all the invigorated women taking charge.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:35 pmA running “mate” for Palin?
February 20th, 2009 at 12:35 pmlokidog Says:
Yes, mary, THAT kind…..hehehe.
Heck, just might make things more peaceful in the Middle East, too!
Most definitely! Make love not war!
February 20th, 2009 at 12:37 pmjb Says:
A running “mate” for Palin?
*
palin/buttars 2012?
*
buttars/palin 2012!
that’s the ticket.
;)
February 20th, 2009 at 12:41 pmNevar Says:
“What, with all the men needing naps!”
And all the invigorated women taking charge.
If you don’t mind my saying – And all the HAPPY, invigorated women taking charge! Just think what could be accomplished.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:43 pmThe Utah Boys Ranch, from wikipedia…
So, sexually abusing young boys is fine…but homosexuality is destroying America?
February 20th, 2009 at 12:45 pm“Mr. Buttars is a bad boy, a naughty boy…a nasty bad naughty boy”, says his BFF Larry Craig
February 20th, 2009 at 1:02 pmNo, No, No. This is all wrong. Don’t any of you have any sympathy for this man who might lose his job in this bad economy? I mean… that it is going to be so difficult for him to find another job where he can spread hate and intolerance into the lives of so many. Don’t any of you have a heart? /snark off
February 20th, 2009 at 1:19 pmmary Says: “HAPPY, invigorated women! Just think what could be accomplished.”
Not at all, mary, such was my implication…
February 20th, 2009 at 1:21 pmI was uncertain of the proper adjective to use…
I mulled over satisfied, and satiated… afraid of treading out onto ice too thin…
;)
jb Says:
February 20th, 2009 at 1:24 pmA running “mate” for Palin?
lol
Just don’t run him too hard, he looks a little frail…
With any luck, he’ll lose his seat in the next election as well.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:34 pmjerseyboyblue says:
With any luck, he’ll lose his seat in the next election as well.
Maybe, with luck, he’ll lose his ass as well.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:40 pmThis bigot should move to Oklahoma if he wants to act like that and still get voted into office.
February 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
heh
February 20th, 2009 at 1:42 pmWhat a pig! Mormons should take notice of the MONSTERS in their midst.
Watch the video:
http://www.bankingonheaven.com
BANKING ON HEAVEN . COM
February 20th, 2009 at 1:42 pmI suppose it would be inappropriate to mention that the most common verbal exclamation directly related to orgasm (regardless of the source) is OH MY GOD!
February 20th, 2009 at 1:47 pmONLY IN UTAH…
Mormons raise 20+ million to support Prop 8…but raise NOTHING to help tens of thousands of women and children trapped in POLYGAMY.
http://www.bankingonheaven.com/
Oh YE Hypocrites behind the Zion Curtain!!!!!
February 20th, 2009 at 1:47 pmActually I’ve known a number of homosexuals, both gays and lesbians, who have openly claimed to be the greatest threat to America when it comes to “going down.” Apparently Buttars agrees with this assessment.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:59 pmIn that picture, it looks like he is fantasizing about blowing Larry Craig.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:01 pmHave you seen this?
http://kvnuforthepeople.com/2009/02/16/anti-gay-ad-in-the-salt-lake-tribune/
http://www.americaforever.com/
LOL
February 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pmOOOOHHHH!!!! It’s BUTTARS!!!!
Check this out then.
http://www.mormongulag.com/
Read the testimonials.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/5/93038/08447
February 20th, 2009 at 2:09 pmAlejandro @ 2:09
And I thought Arizona’s sheriff was bad.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:28 pmMr. Philby Says: 25
He pays attention and inst nearly as STUPID as you
February 20th, 2009 at 4:11 pmThe greatest threat to America “going down.”????? An unfortunate choice of words, me thinks.
February 20th, 2009 at 4:41 pm“Those who dare to disagree with the homosexual agenda are labeled ‘haters,’ and ‘bigots,’ and are censured by their peers.”
___________________________________________________________
Substitute the word “black” for “homosexual” and you have the key talking point of the Buttarses of 1963.
I was seven years old in 1963. I remember the struggle for racial integration during that time — my parents fought on the front lines, and I have vivid memories of printing signs in our basement with them and walking with them in protest marches.
And I remember how so many white people at that time said “I can’t say anything about how the knee grows want to take over everything without being labeled ‘hateful’ or ‘bigoted’.” Even at the age of seven, I could tell that anybody who would say such a thing really WAS hateful and bigoted. The other remark I often heard was “I don’t hate knee grows. I mean, just because I don’t want them living next door…”
Buttars and his ilk are just repackaged bigotry from 1963.
February 20th, 2009 at 5:06 pmFAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University senior Ryan Allen dresses in drag and doesn’t mind being called a queen — homecoming queen, to be exact.
Anybody know how I could send this headline to the RNC?
I’ll admit to an ethical concern: will my posting of this headline choke the thread when the trolls find it?
BWAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
February 20th, 2009 at 10:06 pmbuttbreath says: When it comes right down to it, I would rather be censured for doing what I think is right, than be honored by my colleagues for bowing to the pressure of a special interest group that has been allowed to act with impunity.
WHAT “impunity,” troglodyte?
February 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
It would be one thing if Buttars had merely said he believed homosexuality was wrong based on his religious beliefs. Or if he said he didn’t support gay marriage. Many conservative politicians have similar beliefs and they don’t get thumped by their own party for expressing those beliefs.
I’m glad it’s the Republicans who find this thinking to be dangerous for someone in the role of committee chairman.
You’re an entertaining and frequently inspirational poster, MMH, but I don’t share the optimism expressed in your last sentence. I do NOT think that repugs find ANYTHING wrong with “this thinking”: the rantings and ravings of other neocon icons certainly find favor with rethugs.
But even repukes may be able to sense, metaphorically, that repuke bleeding at the mouth spews repuke blood in the water–and sharks with synapses are already thirsty.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:18 pmAddendum to my post #76: that should have been “hungry,” not thirsty. My bad.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:18 pmavchavis Says:
Representing his people?! Just doing his job?! I think that if Buttars made those comments to the public that voted for him, he would not have been elected.
Concur with the sentiment, avchavis. But, sadly, repukes “have made those comments to the public that voted for [them] for decades. And they keep getting re-elected.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:21 pmtombaker Says:
av – don’t misunderestimate the Utahns. they may have put Buttars in office precisely because he said such things. Outside of SLC, Utah is a place where superstition and delusion are the prime directives.
Heartily concur. And, as I just wrote to av, similar diatribes to their voters have not, thus far, prevented the election of fear-mongers, bigots, and hate-spewers to some of the highest offices in the land.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:23 pmjb Says:
This bigot should move to Oklahoma if he wants to act like that and still get voted into office.
Sorry to say that OK is NOT the only state in which he could still get voted into office.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:26 pmDRxJ Says:
dammit.
is NOT necessarily a bad thing!
But some neocons and closet cases would like it much better if it WERE a bad thing.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:29 pmLibertyLover Says:
No, No, No. This is all wrong. Don’t any of you have any sympathy for this man who might lose his job in this bad economy? I mean… that it is going to be so difficult for him to find another job where he can spread hate and intolerance into the lives of so many. Don’t any of you have a heart? /snark off
Perhaps he could become a librarian at the Botch Howhelost Memorial Library and outhouse?
February 20th, 2009 at 10:33 pmHoodathunk Says:
I suppose it would be inappropriate to mention that the most common verbal exclamation directly related to orgasm (regardless of the source) is OH MY GOD!
Hey, Hoody–it’s Friday night. Don’t just mention it–SHOUT IT!
February 20th, 2009 at 10:34 pmLaurie Allen Producer Says:
ONLY IN UTAH…
Mormons raise 20+ million to support Prop 8…but raise NOTHING to help tens of thousands of women and children trapped in POLYGAMY.
But Laurie, heterosexuality is BLESSED! It’s NATURAL. So why shouldn’t those fine Morons engage in blessedness as profligately as possible whilst raising up another blessed generation?
[I LOVE it that their "bible" features the angel "Moroni"!]
February 20th, 2009 at 10:38 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
Buttars and his ilk are just repackaged bigotry from 1963.
You’ve brought back some memories for me: my first act of civil disobedience occurred in a fancy Fort Worth, TX, department store: I quite deliberately drank from the “Colored” fountain and then used the “Colored” restroom. My mom loved it! She always told us [I’m the eldest of 7} that WE were her weapon against stupidity.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:57 pmGood!
February 21st, 2009 at 6:44 pmWe find that historically, in times of crises and stress, homosexuals are often utilized as scapegoats and targets. They are erroneously perceived as “weak” and “un-manly” so it is wrongly assumed that they are an easy group for use by the politically ambitious as a focus for national rage. There is plenty of historical precedent for this Buttars’ attitude and the remarks he has made which have brought him into the spotlight.
“There are those homosexuals who take the view: what I do is my business, a purely private matter. However, all things which take place in the sexual sphere are not the private affair of the individual, but signify the life and death of the nation, signify world power…”
“…I hope finally to have done with persons of this type in the SS, and the increasingly healthy blood which we are cultivating for Germany, will be kept pure.” – Heinrich Himmler, Speech to the SS Group Commanders, February 18, 1937
The type of politician represented by Mr. Buttars, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Keyes and others will not admit to the end-goal of their agenda regarding gay people, which is to make them criminals, round them up and prosecute them. This would be followed shortly by frustration on the part of the law-enforcement that has been set in motion for this purpose because they soon would discover that efforts to “rehabilitate” are met with failure. They would conclude that gays are merely rebellious and stubbornly recidivist. They would never admit to a wrong-headed policy (as in the case of the drug “war”). Worse and worse penalties would be applied culminating in death sentences, a suggestion that has been made by more than one of these bigot in various legislatures. In 1935, the Reichstag amended Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code to provide very harsh penalties for homosexual acts. Of course it was not long before the laws were being exploited by anyone seeking vendetta against a neighbor for instance, since all it took was an accusation. The term “asocials” was brought into vogue to refer to gay people to further the notion that gays were simply refusing to fit in. Himmler became increasingly frustrated with the lack of success in terms of getting gays to become heterosexual under threat. He spoke of what he intended to do as a result:
“…In the SS, today, we still have about one case of homosexuality a month. In a whole year, about eight to ten cases occur in the entire SS. I have now decided upon the following: in each case, these people will naturally be publicly degraded, expelled, and handed over to the courts. Following completion of the punishment imposed by the court, they will be sent, by my order, to a concentration camp, and they will be shot in the concentration camp, while “attempting to escape”. I will make that known by order to the unit to which the person so “infected” belonged.”
The Nazis, as part of efforts to create a “master Aryan race,” persecuted Germany’s homosexual men believing them to be carriers of a “degeneracy” that threatened the nation’s “disciplined masculinity” and hindered population growth. This Buttars’ assertions that gay people are to be considered as bad a threat to the nation as “terrorists” is evidence that he supports the very same ideology and for the very same reasons. He uses all the same points that fascists have always used to marginalize a selected scapegoat group such as disease, some imagined danger to children, peril to the family, the established social order, that the scapegoat group somehow seeks to “take over” or overthrow or weaken the nation, and the list goes on and on. Sadly, Americans are so ignorant of world history that they unthinkingly allow themselves to be led into this territory that has, in most countries, been tried and long abandoned. Fascisms often befall failing empires, even ones that HAD been viable Republics. Mr. Buttars and his ilk are the authoritarian vehicles that will take us there.
February 21st, 2009 at 7:45 pm