If progressives can win in Utah, they can win anywhere (Guardian)

[struggle4progress]

In the most unlikely places in middle America opposition to bigotry and the war in Iraq are commonplace

Gary Younge, Salt Lake City
Monday October 3, 2005
The Guardian

Following a concert at the Salt Lake City international jazz festival in July the city's mayor, Rocky Anderson, took some musicians and visiting mayors out for dinner. Some of them had beer; Anderson paid some of the bill.

In a week when John Roberts was confirmed as supreme court justice and Tom DeLay, House of Representatives leader, was indicted, this passes for front-page news in Utah. Here, in the home of Mormonism, no city employee is allowed to pay for alcohol with public funds when entertaining. "I truly feel like we're in the middle of a Kafka novel sometimes," says Anderson, who was unaware of the no-alcohol policy, and rescinded it on Thursday. "With a little bit of Taliban thrown in."

And then, as if on Kafka's cue, a yellow-naped Amazonian parrot, perched in the corner of his room, let out a squawk. "That's Cardoso," says Anderson, as though introducing one of his most trusted aides. "Don't worry. He won't repeat a word we say in here." The strangest thing about Anderson is not that he has a parrot in his office, but that he is in office at all. In the state that gave the highest proportion of its votes (72%) to George Bush last year, the mayor of the only major city in Utah is more liberal than most you will find in New York or California.

Anderson, who was re-elected for his second term in 2003, supports gay marriage, opposes the war in Iraq and is a strong environmentalist. He is converting his city's fleet to alternative-fuel vehicles in order to honour his commitment to meet Kyoto's standards on greenhouse emissions by 2012. Two weeks ago he extended benefits to non-married domestic partners of city employees, effectively giving health insurance coverage to gay and cohabiting couples on his payroll. In August, when Bush came to town to bolster support for the Iraq war, Anderson emailed activists calling for "the biggest demonstration this state has ever seen". Two thousand people showed up, making national headlines. <snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1583651,00.html

[NVMojo]

1. is this guy Catholic? This is unbelievable! However ...

years ago, one of my friends took a bunch of us to some really cool bars and dance places in SLC with her gay brother. Of course, all the cool places were gay and we had a great time dancing! And all the places were less than 2 blocks from the Mormon tabernacle.

[DaveColorado]

2. Thanks for sharing

Great article