Debunking DeBry | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I am currently visiting Salt Lake City. It is a sad state of affairs when an elected official suggests, as Salt Lake County Council Chairmen Steve DeBry did, that carrying a banner advocating equal protection of the law is a partisan political activity ("Did Salt Lake County show too much pride?" Tribune, June 12).

DeBry should be thanked, though, for inadvertently exposing the dishonesty behind the oft-repeated claim that opponents of same-sex marriage only object to "redefining" marriage.

DeBry's vote against the county's mutual commitment registry, which extends some benefits of marriage to other family relationships, shows that opponents of equal marriage rights want to make life as miserable as possible for gay people by denying them participation in their partners' health-insurance plans, hospital visitation rights, etc.

Too often, they find a reason to reject any proposal to afford same-sex couples the simple things that the rest of us take for granted.

Anthony Cantor

Toronto, Canada