Video: Utah Senator: "I Don't Want The Gays Stuffin' It Down My Throat"

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Utah State Senator Chris Buttars, who supported the passage of an amendment to the state constitution that defines marriage as being between "one man and one woman," stunned former allies last week when he declared that he might support a statewide anti-discrimination measure that would protect LGBT people in housing and employment. But there are limits to the extent of his support, Buttars told Max Roth, a reporter for the Salt Lake City FOX affiliate. He doesn't think anti-discrimination protection should extend to those who "act out," he said.

"I don't mind gays, but I don't want 'em stuffin' it down my throat all the time," Buttars told Roth, "and certainly in my kids' face."

And this was just after Buttars told the reporter, "I meet with the gays here and there; they were at my house two weeks ago."

Here and there. In my house. Down my throat.

Just sayin'.

Buttars' new gay-friendly attitude, if one may call it that, likely stems from the surprise support of the the Church of Latter Day Saints -- that's Mormon to you -- for a similar anti-discrimination measure passed by the city council of Salt Lake City earlier this month. Buttars opposed the Salt Lake City measure until the Mormon leadership, perhaps looking for a more tolerant image, signed on.

The church has been at the forefront of ballot-measure fights against same-sex marriage in Utah and California, where it led the fight for Proposition 8, the measure that overturned the state Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage.

VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT AFTER THE JUMP


Partial transcript of Max Roth's report for Salt Lake City's FOX 13 News.

SEN. BUTTARS: My goodness, anybody should be able to live in a house and have a job and not worry about being thrown out by sexual choices -- unless they act out.

MAX ROTH: But the issue of acting out is significant to Buttars. Along with marriage itself, Sen. Buttars is concerned with fighting adoption rights that may come up this year.

BUTTARS: As far as I'm concerned, that's dead on arrival.

ROTH: And he is worried about the homosexual lifestyle becoming accepted or sanctioned in Utah public life.

BUTTARS: I meet with the gays here and there; they were at my house two weeks ago. I don't mind gays, but I don't want 'em stuffin' it down my throat all the time, and certainly in my kids' face.