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Groups Celebrate Federal Gay Marriage Ruling

    

A lot of people in Utah were celebrating last night after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. Gay and lesbian activist groups sponsored a community event at Club Sound, while hundreds of conservatives convened at the South Towne Expo Center to venerate heterosexual marriage.

At Club Sound, music blared, confetti fell and people of all ages took to the dance floor to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the federal Defense of Marriage act.

Senator Jim Dabakis was a special guest at the celebration. He’s also Utah’s Democratic Party Chair and gay. He had a message for those who may have misgivings about yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling.

“The sun is going to come up tomorrow in the east," Dabakis says. "It’s going to set in the west. Things are going to just be fine.”

But things will be more than fine for Dabakis, who proposed on stage to his partner of more than 20 years. They’ll have to have their wedding out of state because gay marriage is still illegal in Utah. But Dabakis hopes that won’t be the case for much longer.

“So the question is going to be; is Utah going to be an outlier?" Dabakis says. "Are we going to be the last state? Are we going to let a lot of business go away because we don’t want to be inclusive? Are we going to allow people to say that we are not fair and not narrow minded and that we don’t embrace diversity?”

Frank Meyer is an attorney and a certified Christian Conciliator who works to restore and reconcile marriages. He gave an analysis of the decision at the celebration of traditional marriage that took place in Sandy. He says it remains to be seen what the U.S. Supreme court will do when it comes to a particular state’s Defense of Marriage act and whether that will be enforceable.

 “The home run did not happen," Meyer says. "Did they get to first base, maybe? But again people can get thrown out before you get home. So I think there is a lot of good caution that they should be exercising and it should give us more incentive to dig in our heels and start this fight.”

The state of Utah is currently facing a lawsuit over its constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and adoption.  Utah Attorney General John Swallow is expected to respond to that claim later this summer. 

Whittney Evans grew up southern Ohio and has worked in public radio since 2005. She has a communications degree from Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, where she learned the ropes of reporting, producing and hosting. Whittney moved to Utah in 2009 where she became a reporter, producer and morning host at KCPW. Her reporting ranges from the hyper-local issues affecting Salt Lake City residents, to state-wide issues of national interest. Outside of work, she enjoys playing the guitar and getting to know the breathtaking landscape of the Mountain West.
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