Utah state Sen. Jim Debakis (D) proposed to his partner at a party Wednesday evening celebrating the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.
Debakis said in a statement that Utah, a traditionally Mormon state, should put aside religious matters in acceptance of civil marriages.
“Utah must now decide if it is ready to open its arms to diversity and recognize that marriage is good for all society or if our state will continue to discriminate,” Debakis said, as quoted by KTVX. “With so many young LGBT Utahan’s deciding to marry and build families, it only makes sense to recognize those civil marriages. Religious matters, including marriage, should be left strictly to Churches but civil matters should be accepted without discrimination.”
Debakis added that the state’s position on same sex marriage is “not exactly good for bringing business to Utah” if it meant LGBT individuals transferred to Utah for work would “no longer be married” and their adopted children “may not be theirs anymore.”
“If Utah remains steadfast in its opposition to marriage equality, it will be increasingly difficult to bring out-of-state companies to Utah,” he added.
