"Buttars-Palooza" Event Draws Hundreds

"Buttars-Palooza" Event Draws Hundreds
March 1st, 2009

Utahns Gather at the State Capitol to Protest Senator Buttars for his remarks regarding homosexuals

"Do I have any black-hearted liberals in the house?"

At around one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, around a thousand Utahns occupied the South Grounds of the Capitol building in protest of State Senator Chris Buttars' recent claim that homosexuals are, "the greatest threat to America." The event was co-hosted by Michael Mueller of the group Utahns For Marriage Equality and Troy Williams, who is a producer for the local radio station KRCL.

"Do I have any tree-hugging, homo-loving hippies in the audience tonight?" Troy asks the crowd, his voice booming across the block.

Let me spare you the suspense: the answer to both of these rhetorical questions was quite clearly in the affirmative.

Controversy over Chris Buttars is nothing new, as the loose-lipped politician has managed to create an impressively diverse contingent of passionate enemies throughout his political career as a senator and professional career as the director of the West Ridge Boys Academy.

Despite high tensions on all sides, the organizers of the event tried to maintain a festive, upbeat atmosphere. Emails promoting the gathering claimed, "It's NOT a Rally - NOT a Protest - IT'S A PARTY!" True to their word, the event featured singing, dancing, five different speeches, and a blues band. However, party or not, it was no secret that many attendees were quite upset. Reactions ranged from tasteful, snarky slogans such as, "Buttars is bad for the heart," to the more spiteful custom T-shirts being sold mocking Buttars by superimposing his face on a pig having sex. This refers to an audio clip revealing yet another statement Buttars made that claimed gay people have "pig-sex." What on earth is pig-sex, you ask? I didn't know, either. But after looking it up, I can tell you that it apparently has something to do with defecation during a sex act. Though Buttars has tried to lay low and has refused to discuss this comment with the media, it has seemingly become a point of fixation for much of the ridicule now directed him.

I had the chance to speak with both Michael and Troy during one of the musical interludes, and they told me a little bit about their common goals and the roots of their current campaign.

Michael Mueller, who is straight and married, says that Proposition 8 was what really got him thinking about activism. "I had a lot of friends in the gay community," he said. "Propostion 8 really helped unify us, and I now fight for social justice." He says he founded Utahns for Marriage Equality as a Facebook group, but it quickly grew to something much larger, and he now a mover and a shaker in the local political scene.

Troy Williams is the producer of KRCL's "Radioactive" and does not shy away from the title he received from Gayle Ruzicka of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum: she calls him, "the militant homosexual." However, he tells me that the genesis of this event was quite peaceful in its designs. "We were having brunch with some friends, and I said, what are we going to do? Let's throw a party! We're going to call it Buttars-Palooza, and we're going to celebrate Chris Buttars. We are celebrating him because he has united Utah's progessive community." I asked him what kind of affect he felt the event would have, and he said he wanted, "to send a very clear message to Utah legislature: We are not the greatest threat to America; we are America. We are Utah."

Three former members of the West Ridge Boys Academy also attended the event with a booth trying to raise awareness for the abuse they allegedly suffered at the camp Buttars directed for 15 years.

I requested an interview with a representative from the Utah Eagle Forum, which has adamantantly defended Buttars since the news broke of the controversy to hear their side of the story. Unfortunately, I received no response.

Jump to a gallery of pictures from the event

Reader Comments

Tom Darin

When you as a Senator oppress one group you discriminate also against others in society that are not L.G.B.T. Under these same denials of equality, straight couples living together also do not have any equality either in many instances. The Laws of the United States as well as most States say that you must be married as a man and woman by an elected official or by a religious leader and have a marriage license. Some States allow a few equality protections for straight couples who are now "common law married" due to time together. Straight people living together are also treated as outcasts even though they are citizens and deserving of happiness.

We will attempt as a GLBT Community to show by actions and good deeds that we are decent and productive members of society. We will show thru our love for our fellow man that there are many struggles which face us as a great nation, which need to be overcome. We will show our Gay Community Love without lowering ourselves to the hateful racism and bigotry and insensitivity toward others thus shown by Senator Buttars. As an individual, I promise to work in improving my community inclusive of all humanity, and the Country in which I live. Until I am god with a capital G, I cannot judge others.

May God Bless America and Utah when it someday starts acting like a part of it!

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