Slamming Buttars: Activists Hold Poetry Slam Against Racism, Homophobia

None by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Poets and activists slammed Senator Chris Buttars at Capitol Hill Friday. The Senator ignited a controversy in Utah's minority communities when he called a bill last week a "dark, black, ugly thing." Earlier this session, he upset the gay community by running a bill to dismantle Salt Lake City's domestic partnership registry. Poetry slam organizer Matt Bradley said racism and homophobia continue to be a pervasive problem in the Legislature.

"Senator Buttars has consistently said this issue is over," Bradley says. "In every apology, he's said this issue is done, this issue is over. Our question is: On what authority does Senator Buttars say the issues of discrimination, racism and homophobia are over? They are not over."

Bradley says while Buttars is now a poster-boy of sorts for racism and homophobia in the Legislature, other lawmakers are equally culpable. Deanna Blackwell, the African American Program Coordinator for the University of Utah, came to the poetry slam wearing a t-shirt with the words, "dark, black, ugly thing," pinned to the front.

"So, I'm letting him know, as an African American, I'm not a dark, black, ugly thing. I'm not the stereotypes he sees me as," Blackwell says.

Blackwell says Buttars' comments came as no surprise to her because he's made racist comments in the past. She thinks the best thing for him to do now is step down voluntarily. And, she says, he should do it immediately.

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