14 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | VOTER GUIDE
Qsaltlake.com |
ISSUE 313 |
JULY, 2020
Utah GOP gubernatorial candidates talk LGBTQ with Equality Utah Before primary ballots were mailed to voters, Equality Utah held a candidate forum, interviewing the four Republican GOP candidates on LGBTQ issues. The 80-minute video is at the end of our story at qsaltlake.com. To help you make your voting choice, QSaltLake Magazine has chosen moments during the forum.
Spencer Cox Williams: So everybody is on a journey; very few people are static in their beliefs and their views. I’m curious about your personal journey, thinking about LGBT issues. Talk about your evolution. Cox: So, I shared some of this publicly. This piece maybe not as much. A real important inflection point for me came when I was running for office eight years ago to get into the [Utah] House of Representatives. A friend of mine, a reporter — remember I come from a small rural place — came up to me and we had a very important conversation. He said, since you’re going to get elected, you need to know something. He came out to me that night and said, “I want you to think very carefully about me when you are making
those decisions.” It was kind of a stunning moment for two reasons — one I didn’t know he was gay, and two, I hadn’t thought much about it from a policy standpoint. While the starting point [of his growth on LGBT issues] was much earlier, that was a leaping point. Through this process of public service, I have had the opportunity to meet some just amazing people in the state who shared their stories with me. I think that is what makes it real, is part of that journey. I’ve said before, on civil rights issues, you know people don’t wake up one morning and become a different race or have a child of a different race. That takes time. People do wake up all the time and find out that someone they care deeply about, a family member or a friend or someone, is part of the LGBTQ community, and that starts to change their perspective. So it really is about relationships, for me and for most people. Williams asked about what Cox will do if elected governor to help with the suicide crisis, saying Utah’s suicide rate has risen 141 percent in 10 years. Cox: The legislature has passed more mental health legislation over the past couple of years than probably the rest of the history of the state combined. We’re putting real dollars toward suicide prevention. The Safe Utah app has been a really important piece of that. The mobile crisis outreach teams that we’re working on, and then just changing the culture around these issues is going to do more than anything else. When people feel included and when people have a
connection. I’ve often said the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection. The same thing is true with mental health issues. Our LGBTQ communities, when they feel welcome when they feel like they have a place … that’s going to save more lives than really anything else we can do. Williams: The Pulse massacre was devastating for our community, and to have an elected official [Spencer Cox] stand up and show empathy and compassion was huge. I had a friend in India who saw your speech on the news in India. So it had an impact across the globe, you know, that a Republican would step forward and show love and compassion toward the LGBT community then that’s beautiful. Cox: Well, there are two sides to that. One is how crazy it is that a no-name politician from Utah, the lieutenant governor, would get that kind of attention from all around the world. We received messages from all over the world; from Chile, Great Britain, Russia, everywhere. These messages that were coming in were very positive and yet I think it gave license to people because what I heard over and over again was, “thank you for saying what I feel. I’ve just never figured out how to articulate them,” and those are the moments that matter. I’ll tell you the best part
of that was after this speech, for like an hour and a half, people just came and shared their stories. And, they were heartbreaking, there were a lot of tears about people who had been rejected by their families or others, but most importantly, it was a moment of healing. We need more of those moments. Williams asked about hearing transgender voices in a Cox administration. Cox: My job as governor, the kind of person I am, is bringing everybody together and listening to their voices. I have had that opportunity with many in the transgender community to come and talk to us multiple times, and it’s really fascinating and heartbreaking at times to have those conversations and understand what they’ve gone through. And so yes, they’re part of our state. They’re an important part of our state, and they deserve to be brought to the table. Williams asked if the Republican party will eventually expand to include LGBTQ people. Cox: Absolutely. It’s not only in the future but in the past. We do have members of the LGBTQ community who are Republicans. We haven’t done a great job of being inclusive and broadening the tent, but some of us are trying really hard, and there’s a reason for that. The Republican party is the party of civil rights. I mean, it’s the party of Lincoln. That’s where it starts. It’s the party of women’s
